Samantha Pirosko
52
Bluefield St. BSC 0-2,0-0 DII Independent
74
Winner Gannon Gannon 1-0,0-0 PSAC
Bluefield St. BSC
0-2,0-0 DII Independent
52
Final
74
Gannon Gannon
1-0,0-0 PSAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Bluefield St. BSC 13 11 17 11 52
Gannon Gannon 20 16 20 18 74

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Pirosko Posts Double-Double as No. 9 Gannon Opens with 74-52 Win over Bluefield State

ERIE, Pa. – Samantha Pirosko (Eastlake, Ohio/Eastlake North) powered her way to 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead ninth-ranked Gannon to a 74-52 season-opening win over Bluefield State on Saturday night at the Hammermill Center. The Big Blue fell to 1-2 on the young season.

A 5'10" sophomore, Pirosko registered her third straight double-double after ending the 2020-21 season with a pair. Dominating inside, she made 9-of-13 field goals and went 10-of-11 at the line. Four of her 10 rebounds were on the offensive glass.

Delaney Dogan (West Middlesex, Pa./West Middlesex) joined Pirosko in double digits with 11 points as Gannon pounded the ball inside all night. Dogan made 5-of-6 field goals and her lone free three attempt. The Lady Knights outscored Bluefield State 36-10 in the paint and also had a 24-7 edge in points off turnovers. Gannon controlled the glass with 39 rebounds, including 12 offensive, to 27 for Bluefield State. The Big Blue committed 17 turnovers to 10 for Gannon. 

A total of nine different Lady Knights scored. Gannon played without senior leader Sydney Mitchell (Halethorpe, Md./Seton Keough), who is currently out with an injury. Emma Wright (Fairview, Pa./Talawanda) scored eight points, adding three assists and two steals. Boston McKinney (Bolivar, Ohio/Tuscarawas Valley) came off the bench to contribute seven points and three assists, while Tori Obenrader (Fryburg, Pa./North Clarion) returned after missing the last nine games last winter with a knee injury to total six points and six rebounds in 15 minutes. Emily Poling (Defiance, Ohio/Defiance) handed out a career-high six assists.

Gannon shot 47.4 percent from the floor (27-of-57), making 4-of-18 3-pointers, and was a near-perfect 16-of-18 from the charity stripe (88.9 pct.). The Lady Knights held Bluefield State to 32.0 percent from the floor (16-of-50), with a 7-of-20 showing on 3-pointers. The Big Blue was 13-of-14 at the line.

Gannon won its fifth straight season opener, but the Lady Knights were unable to pull away from the Big Blue until midway through the third quarter despite grabbing the lead for good less than five minutes into the game.  

Pirosko scored 11 points in the opening ten minutes as the Lady Knights jumped out top a 20-13 lead. The lead would expand to 36-24 at the half, with Pirosko accounting for 19 points.

Still maintaining a 12-point advantage at 43-31 three minutes into the third quarter, Bluefield State closed to six points at 43-37 on back-to-back 3-pointers by Dani Janutolo and Alexus Tucker. Less than two minutes later the lead was back up to 50-37 as Pirosko scored all seven points on a field goal and five free throws.

Bluefield State would get no closer than 11 points the rest of the way as Gannon led 56-41 after three periods. Any comeback hopes were dashed early in the fourth quarter as the Lady Knights went on a 13-0 run to build the lead to 71-45 with 2:56 remaining, the largest advantage of the night. Dogan scored seven points in the run.

Tucker led the Big Blue with 15 points, making 3-of-6 3-pointers. Londen Coleman added 13 points and a team-high five rebounds.

Gannon returns to action in a week hosting Lake Erie on Sunday, November 21. Tipoff is set for 1:00 p.m. at the Hammermill Center.   
 
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