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JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - The No. 5 Gannon women's basketball team concluded the regular season with a 71-50 victory over Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West Division opponent Pitt-Johnstown on Saturday afternoon at the Sports Center. The win marked the Lady Knights' first road-victory over the Lady Cats in program history. The Lady Knights close the regular season at 25-2 overall and 14-2 in the division, while the Lady Cats drop to 9-16 on the season and 6-9 in divisional action.
In only nine minutes of play, senior Jen Papich (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) led the Lady Knights for the ninth game this season with 16 points off an 8-for-10 shooting percentage. Papich added a rebound and a steal to her totals. Junior Nettie Blake (Jersey City, N.J./Marist) and redshirt freshman Lanise Saunders (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) each tallied 10 points with Saunders registering a season game-high.
The Lady Knights shot 46.8 percent (29-62) from the field in the contest, opening the game at 54.5 (18-33) percent in the first half. In the second half, 10 of their 32 points came at the foul line.
Leading the Lady Cats was Nicole Carman with 12 points off the bench. Carman added five boards to rank second on the team. Kelsey Sleighter tallied 11 points, while leading scorer Jasmine Harper only managed seven points including five turnovers.
Opening at 40 percent (8-20) from the field, the Lady Cats cooled off in the second half to 28.1 percent (9-32). Among their 24 long-range attempts, the Lady Cats only connected on five attempts to finish at 20.8 percent.
On the glass, the Lady Knights dominated the Lady Cats by a 44-26 advantage. Pulling down 17 offensive rebounds, the Lady Knights tallied 19 second-chance points compared to the Lady Cats' two points. Sophomore Jennie Thies (Lakewood, N.Y./Southwestern) led each team with eight rebounds, marking a career game-high. Blake and freshman Brianna Brennan (Woodhaven, Mich./Woodhaven) both added seven rebounds.
Holding a 24-18 lead with 7:48 remaining, the Lady Knights limited the Lady Cats to just five points to close out the half. The Lady Knights only allowed the Lady Cats to fire five shots during that time, leading to the 15-5 run. Senior Kelley Sundberg (Mansfield, Conn./E.O. Smith) tallied a layup as the horn sounded to end the half, handing the Lady Knights a 39-23 lead at the break.
To open the second half, Pitt-Johnstown took a pair of early fouls in the first 20 seconds. Brennan scored the game's only point of the opening 3:23 off a visit to the foul line just 20 seconds in.
A jumper by Sundberg with 14:57 gave the Lady Knights a commanding 20-point lead, 46-26. In the remaining time, the Lady Cats could not move within less than 19 points of the Lady Knights' lead.
Down the stretch, the Lady Knights extended their lead to 27 points with 2:28 left on the clock off an 8-0 run. The Lady Cats managed to whittle the Lady Knights' advantage down to 21 before the end of regulation and a Gannon 71-50 win.
Gannon concluded the regular season against UPJ and will be idle in the final week of conference play due to the rotating bye week. Earning a first-round bye in the PSAC Tournament, Gannon will remain off for over a week until the quarterfinal game on Tuesday, March 4, at the Hammermill Center. The opponent will be announced following the first round matchups.
GAME NOTES: The Lady Knights improved to 3-22 against the Lady Cats, winning the last two meetings… For the sixth time in program history, the Lady Knights reached the 25-win milestone… Saunders' five field goals marked a career game-high… Brennan played a career game-high 23 minutes… Blake extends her streak of double figures in a game to 12, starting back on Jan. 11… Versus fellow first-year head coaches at their respective institutions, head coach Jim Brunelli improved to 11-0… The Lady Knights have won 19 games by double points and 12 by 20 points or more.
