THE BASICS
Score: Gannon 81, at Seton Hill 62
Records: Gannon (13-4, 12-2 PSAC), Seton Hill (8-11, 5-9 PSAC)
Location: Greensburg, Pa.  |  McKenna Center
The Short Story: The Gannon women's basketball team captured their sixth straight win following an 81-62 victory over host Seton Hill Saturday afternoon at the McKenna Center in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division action. The Lady Knights have won nine of their last 10 games. Outscoring the Griffins by a 41-24 advantage, the Lady Knights used a strong-second half performance to seal the win. One of four Lady Knights to score double figures, senior Nettie Blake (Jersey City, N.J./Marist) led the team with 18 points and 15 rebounds. Blake registered her seventh double-double of the season and 26th of her career.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The game was a back-and-forth affair for most of the opening half. Holding a 3-2 lead early on, a jumper by senior Mollie Sebald (Broadview Heights, Ohio/Holy Name)  followed by a three from senior Brittany Batts (Leesburg, Va./Loudoun County) gave the Lady Knights an 8-2 lead. After the Lady Knights worked their lead to 13-7, host Seton Hill answered with six straight to lock the game up at 13 all.
- The opening 17:31 featured four tied scores as each team made runs throughout the stretch.
- A three by the Griffins' Jenna Kaufman with 2:54 left put the team ahead by two, 34-32, before a jumper from junior Morgan Neighbors (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville South) knotted the game back up at 34. Four unanswered points by the Griffins led to a 38-34 lead with 43 seconds left.
- Trailing by four in the closing minute of the first half, freshman McKenna Shives (Struthers, Ohio/Struthers) and sophomore Brianna Brennan (Woodhaven, Mich./Woodhaven) struck with consecutive three-pointers to give the Lady Knights a 40-38 lead at the half. Brennan's long-range connection came with just four seconds left on the clock.
- Shives' late-three in the first half opened a 12-2 run for the Lady Knights that lasted 2:12 into the second frame. The Lady Knights scored the first six points of the second half to take a 46-40 lead with four points credited to Sebald.
- A layup by the Griffins' Chelsea Apke moved her squad to within one, 48-47, with 13:49 left. Back-to-back scores from Brennan and Neighbors moved the Lady Knights back ahead to 52-47. Following a visit to the foul line by Apke, the Lady Knights strung together eight unanswered points to take a 60-49 lead with 10:28 left in regulation. Senior Candice Hendricks (Randallstown, Md./McDonogh) tallied six of the eight points.
- A three from the Griffins' Jharrin Gill pulled the Lady Knights' lead down to single-digits, 65-57, with 7:10 left on the clock. The Lady Knights answered with an 11-0 run to take control of the game. During the run, the Griffins shot 0-for-6.
- Blake started the Maroon and Gold's final run with a layup followed by a long-range three from Batts. A visit to the foul line for Shives tacked on two more points. Another Blake layup and a Shives jumper sealed the run leading to the 76-57 advantage with 3:06 remaining.
 
GAME NOTES
- Four Lady Knights finished the day with double figures for the second straight game.
- Blake led the Lady Knights with 18 points and 15 rebounds nine rebounds in 22 minutes. She shot 7-of -9 from the field. The senior has compiled 905 career rebounds to move into fourth place on the program's all-time rebounding list ahead of Brittany Tabron (891).
- Three other Lady Knights scored double figures including Batts with 14 points, Neighbors with 13 points and Sebald with 11 points. Batts also tied a season-high four rebounds and added four assists in 35 minutes. Sebald collected four steals.
- Shives and Hendricks each scored eight points in the win. Hendricks recorded three rebounds and three assists. Shives tied a career-high three assists, while adding three boards.
- The Lady Knights dominated the boards with a 50-27 rebounding advantage. Blake led the Lady Knights with 15 rebounds followed by Brennan with a season-best seven boards.
- The Lady Knights shot 46.3-percent (31-67) from the field, while the Griffins finished the day at 38.9-percent (21-54). The Griffins connected on 52.2-percent (12-23) of their long-range attempts.
 
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Gannon remains unbeaten at 5-0 in the all-time series against Seton Hill. The Lady Knights have won each game by double digits.
- Blake has scored double figures in six consecutive games, while leading the Lady Knights' scoring in each contest.
- The Lady Knights' 50 rebounds was the highest total since the team opened the season with back-to-back games of 50 or more boards.
- The Griffins' leading-scorer Meghan Mastroianni was held scoreless after averaging 9.9 points per game entering the meeting. SHU's starting five contributed a combined 23 points. Among the Griffins' 39 bench points, 27 came between Mariah Wells (17 points) and Hallie Torris (10 points).
- When leading at the half, the Maroon and Gold moved to 11-0.
 
UP NEXT
Gannon circles back around in conference play with a trip to Slippery Rock Jan. 28. The game is set to tipoff at 6 p.m., as part of a conference doubleheader. At the start of the season, the Lady Knights defeated The Rock, 69-48, to open league play Nov. 19.