20
Sean Gallagher

Women's Basketball Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

14th-Ranked Gannon Starts Busy Week Hosting Lock Haven on Tuesday

LOCK HAVEN BALD EAGLES (4-1, 1-1 PSAC East) at No. 14 GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS (5-1, 1-1 PSAC West)
DATE/TIME: Tuesday, December 14, 2021 | 5:30 p.m.
ARENA/LOCATION: Hammermill Center l Erie, Pa.
LIVE VIDEO
LIVE STATS
 
RADIO:  Gannon basketball fans can catch all of the exciting action of Golden Knights' basketball on 90.5 WERG FM. Jack Quinn and Sean Amicucci will serve as announcers for the games.
 
THE GANNON-LOCK HAVEN ALL-TIME SERIES
Gannon leads 16-9   
Last Meeting:  Dec. 8, 2018 – Lock Haven 76, Gannon 70 I RECAP
In a series that first began in 1984-85, Lock Haven has won the last two meetings, including a 76-70 decision in the last meeting at the Hammermill Center in 2018-19.  Chelsea Rourke led all scorers with 19 points, adding eight rebounds. LHU had four players in double figures, led by Riliegh Devine and Ahnera Parker with 15 points apiece. The difference came from beyond the arc. Gannon was 3-of-17 on 3-pointers while Lock Haven went 9-of-22.
 
 
ERIE, Pa. – After playing four of its first six games on the road, the Gannon women's basketball team begins a three-game homestand, all against PSAC East competition over a six-day period this week. The stretch begins on Tuesday, December 14 when Lock Haven visits the Hammermill Center. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.
 
Gannon climbed as high as seventh in the WBCA Division II Top 25 and currently resides in 14th place with a 5-1 record. The Golden Knights ran off four impressive wins to start the season before hitting a speed bump at Shepherd. They would drop a 63-59 decision in their first PSAC contest, with PSAC-leading scorer Samantha Pirosko (Eastlake, Ohio/Eastlake North) exiting the game early in the second quarter with an injury. She would not return. 
 
The Golden Knights came back the next day with an impressive rally at Shippensburg in a battle of the two PSAC divisional preseason favorites. Trailing by eight points late in the third quarter, GU outscored the Raiders 29-16 in the fourth quarter and came away with a 68-59 win.  
 
Lock Haven is off to a fast start as well at 4-1 and 1-1 in PSAC play after being picked to finish fifth in the PSAC East in the coaches' preseason poll. The Bald Eagles are off to their best start since the 2018-19 edition also won four of its first five contests. They opened up PSAC action with a 59-48 loss to Edinboro, but then rallied for a 64-55 win over Mercyhurst.
 
Gannon returns to action over the weekend, hosting Mansfield on Saturday, December 18 and Bloomsburg on Sunday, December 19. Both contests tip off at 1:00 p.m. The Golden Knights wrap up the 2021 portion of their schedule on New Year's Eve at Wheeling.
 
 
GANNON RANKED 14TH IN WBCA POLL
Expectations were high as Gannon entered the 2021-22 campaign, and so far the Golden Knights have lived up their preseason hype. After climbing as high as seventh in the WBCA Division II Top 25, they currently reside in 14th place. They are among "receiving votes" in the D2SIDA poll after sitting in ninth place previously. Gannon was chosen the preseason favorite in the PSAC West, edging Indiana (Pa.) in the Coaches' Preseason Poll. Gannon and IUP each received four first place votes, but the Golden Knights received more overall points. Lock Haven was picked to finish fifth in the Eastern Division.
 
WRIGHT, PIROSKO EARN BACK-TO-BACK PSAC WEST ATHLETE OF THE WEEK HONORS
Emma Wright (Fairview, Pa./Talawanda) was named the PSAC West Athlete of the Week for her performance in the Shepherd and Shippensburg games. Wright led Gannon with 17 points in the Ship win, matching her career high, adding seven rebounds and a pair of assists. Seven of her points came in the decisive fourth quarter. She scored 11 points at Shepherd, but more importantly, held Abby Beeman, the second-leading scorer in the PSAC, to just eight points, all in the fourth quarter. Samantha Pirosko (Eastlake, Ohio/Eastlake North) was the PSAC West Athlete of the Week the previous week. The 5'10" sophomore led Gannon to wins over Lynn and host Florida Southern in the Terrace Hotel Thanksgiving Classic. She scored 27 points against Florida Southern, her fourth straight game in double digits and the second game with 20-or-more points. In 29 minutes, she made 9-of-12 field goals, including her lone 3-point attempt, while going a perfect 8-for-8 at the line. She added four rebounds, an assist and a steal. The day before, the native of Eastlake, Ohio had 13 points, five rebounds, and six steals.
 
GANNON IN THE PSAC STATS
Scoring Offense – 68.3 (6th)
Scoring Defense – 60.8 (8th)
Field Goal Pct. -- .429 (6th)
Field Goal Pct. Defense -- .422 (16th)
3FGM per Game – 4.7 (13th)
Rebound Margin -- +4.2 (4th)
Turnover Margin -- +4.17 (4th)
 
WRIGHT IN 14TH SEASON AS GANNON'S HEAD COACH
Cleve Wright is in his 14th season as Gannon's head coach, and 19th overall as a head coach. He is actually in his second stint at Gannon. He enjoyed tremendous success while guiding the Golden Knights from 2002-13, posting a 233-100 record with five NCAA Tournament appearances and a PSAC title. After four seasons as the head coach at Miami (Ohio) and another two years as the associate head coach at Eastern Illinois, Wright returned to Gannon in 2019-20. He guided GU to a 25-6 ledger in his return, with the Golden Knights defeating seventh-ranked IUP, 50-40, in the PSAC Championship game. On the eve of hosting half of the bracket of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional, the pandemic shut everything down. Wright owns an overall record of 311-195 and is 276-108 at Gannon.
 
WELCOME BACK SYDNEY
After missing the first four contests of the season, Sydney Mitchell (Halethorpe, Md./Seton Keough) returned to action on the recent eastern trip to Shepherd and Shippensburg. Mitchell, in just her second game of the season at Shippensburg, scored 14 points and five boards. She made 4-of-8 field goals, including 2-of-3 3-pointers, and was 4-of-4 at the line in 18 minutes. The night before she made her season debut at Shepherd, playing 19 minutes and contributing eight points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. The 5'11" senior entered the season a starter in 78 games in her career, including a 76 in a row leading into 2021-22. She averaged 10.6 ppg last season, along with 3.9 apg. and 2.0 spg. last season.
 
PIROSKO GOES DOWN AT SHEPHERD
While Sydney Mitchell (Halethorpe, Md./Seton Keough) made her return at Shepherd, Gannon lost leading scorer and rebounder Samantha Pirosko (Eastlake, Ohio/Eastlake North) to an injury early in the second quarter. Oddly enough, last winter Pirosko stepped into the lineup when Tori Obenrader (Fryburg, Pa./North Clarion) went down with a season-ending injury and started the last nine games. The 5'10" sophomore emerged as the team's leading scorer at 15.9 ppg., and was second in rebounding at 6.0 rpg.  She entered the Shepherd game as the PSAC's leading scorer at 21.8 ppg., scoring in double figures in the first four games with two 20-point efforts. She currently stands seventh in the PSAC at 18.0 ppg.
 
HERE COMES EMILY
With little notoriety and after a slow start, Emily Poling (Defiance, Ohio/Defiance) turned in a pair of strong efforts at Shepherd and Shippensburg, particularly stepping up and hitting big shots down the stretch. The junior guard made 6-of-22 shots in the first four games, but in the last two games she was 10-for-19, scoring 12 points at Shepherd and 11 at Shippensburg. She added six rebounds, six assists, and seven steals. In the 2020-21 season, Poling averaged 8.2 ppg. in 29 minutes per game.
 
KNIGHTS SINK SHIPPENSBURG WITH SECOND-HALF RALLY
Gannon suffered its first loss of the season at Shepherd, and the Golden Knights trailed for much of the game at Shippensburg. They were behind at the half 30-19, and still trailed by eight late in the third quarter before closing to 43-39 after three periods. After outscoring the Raiders 20-13 in the third, the Golden Knights dominated the fourth quarter to the tune of 29-16 to score 49 points in the second half. Gannon took its first lead of the night less than two minutes into the final session. After making just one of their first 16 3-point attempts, the Knights made four of their last five from beyond the arc, beginning with Emily Poling's (Defiance, Ohio/Defiance) three to tie the score at 48-48. Leading 51-50, Gannon went on an 11-0 run. The Raiders never pulled closer than nine points after that. The Golden Knights forced 25 turnovers, and after committing 15 turnovers in the first half, they were guilty of just three in the second half.
 
DOGAN RECORDS CAREER HIGHS VS. LYNN
Simply put, Delaney Dogan (West Middlesex, Pa./West Middlesex) was a beast in the paint for Gannon against Lynn. The 6'0" senior posted career highs with 21 points and 12 rebounds as GU came away with a 64-59 victory. She made 9-of-13 field goals, including the first 3-pointer of her career, and was 2-for-2 at the line. She added two assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
 
TORI ON THE ROAD BACK
Gannon's leading scorer and rebounder in 2019-20, Tori Obenrader (Fryburg, Pa./North Clarion) missed the last nine games of the 2020-21 season with a knee injury. She was averaging 12.6 ppg. and 7.0 rpg. at the time after showing figures of 16.9 ppg. and 8.2 rpg. in '19-20. The 5'11" junior made her return to the hardcourt vs. Bluefield State, playing 14 minutes. She finished with six points and six rebounds. Head coach Cleve Wright has been easing her back into the flow, as she is playing 17.5 minutes per game and averaging 7.0 ppg. and 3.5 rpg. Obenrader was a first team All-PSAC West selection in 2019-20 and the MVP of the PSAC Tournament, in addition to being named the 2018-19 PSAC West Freshman of the Year. She currently has 875 career points and 523 career rebounds.
 
TOUGH EARLY-SEASON SLATE
The schedule-makers didn't do Gannon any favors to start the season. After opening at home with Bluefield State and Lake Erie, the Lady Knights spent Thanksgiving in the Terrace Hotel Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Florida Southern. They came away with a pair of tight victories over Lynn (64-59) and Florida Southern 975-74), the latter team an NCAA Tournament team in 2019-20. PSAC play began with Gannon opening with the top two teams in the Eastern Division preseason poll. GU would drop a 63-59 decision at Shepherd on December 3, but came back for a 68-59 win at PSAC East preseason favorite Shippensburg the next day. Now comes a Lock Haven team that is 4-1.
 
WRIGHT ADDS FORMER KNIGHT BATTS, BRAUN AS ASSISTANT COACHES
Cleve Wright added a pair of assistant coaches to his staff late this summer. His staff is now comprised of former Gannon standout Brittany Batts, plus Allison Braun, who was a standout at McDowell High School. Batts played for the Lady Knights from 2011-15, currently ranking 20th in career scoring with 1,152 points while appearing in 125 games. She holds the top two season figures for 3-pointers made with 102 in 2012-13 and 93 in 2013-14. She ranks second in career 3-pointers made (286) and attempts (688) and is fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (.416). Batts helped lead the Lady Knights to a 102-24 record and four NCAA postseason appearances. She has already worked as an assistant coach at the Division I, II, and III levels while in the early stages of her coaching career. She joins the Lady Knights after working as an assistant at Division I Chicago State last year. Prior to that, she was a member of the Shepherd coaching staff in 2018-19 and 2019-20.  She began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Castelton University in 2015, then moved on to Bridgewater College (Va.) in 2017-18. Braun joins the Gannon staff after serving as an assistant coach at SUNY Cortland the last three years. During the 2019-20 season she was part of Cortland's coaching contingent that was named the SUNYAC Coaching Staff of the Year. The Red Dragons finished 22-7, advanced to the finals of the SUNYAC tournament, earned an NCAA Division III tournament at-large bid. Braun played four years at Division I Canisius College from 2009-13. She was voted as the team's Most Valuable Player by her teammates in both her junior and senior years. Braun appeared in 108 career games, with 53 starts.
 
GU SIGNS PAIR OF RECRUITS
Head coach Cleve Wright and his staff signed a pair of recruits to national letters of intent recently, grabbing both from the Buckeye state. Briana Claxon is a 5'7" guard from South Webster (Ohio) High School, while Andrea Maibach is a 6'2" forward from Norwayne (Ohio) High School. Claxon is a two-time All-Ohio selection who averaged 24.4 ppg. as a junior. Maibach has led Norwayne in rebounding the last two years, with a 23-3 finish a year ago.
 
SCOUTING LOCK HAVEN
Lock Haven comes into the Hammermill Center with a 4-1 record, the best start since the 2018-19 Bald Eagle squad also won four of its first five games. The four wins have come by a total of 21 points, including a 64-55 win over Mercyhurst in their last contest on December 4. The lone loss came the night before against Edinboro, 59-48, as the Bald Eagles squandered a 26-15 halftime lead. Head coach Jennifer Smith is in her 14th season at LHU and has a 122-216 record. Lock Haven has four players scoring in double figures, although two of those players have played just two games. That group includes Ahnera Parker, a 6'1" forward who was a second team All-PSAC East selection in 2018-19. She is averaging 12.4 ppg. and a team-leading 8.8 rpg. Brooke Lawyer averages 13.6 ppg. and 5.2 rpg. The 5'8" freshman has 12 assists, second on the team, and a team-high seven steals. Taylor Leidy, a 5'5" junior, scored 29 points in the first two games but has not played since. The news is better for Jaynelle Robinson, a 6'2" senior who missed the first three games but has played in the last two. She had 16 points and eight rebounds vs. Mercyhurst.
 
NEXT FOR THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Gannon will play back-to-back PSAC crossover contests this weekend, hosting Mansfield on Saturday, December 18 and Bloomsburg on Sunday, December 19. Both games tip off at 1:00 p.m.
 
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Players Mentioned

Delaney Dogan

#54 Delaney Dogan

G/F
6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
Sydney Mitchell

#23 Sydney Mitchell

G
5' 11"
Senior
Tori Obenrader

#25 Tori Obenrader

G/F
5' 11"
Junior
Samantha Pirosko

#44 Samantha Pirosko

C/F
5' 10"
Redshirt Sophomore
Emily Poling

#20 Emily Poling

G
5' 9"
Junior
Emma Wright

#13 Emma Wright

G
5' 10"
Redshirt Junior

Players Mentioned

Delaney Dogan

#54 Delaney Dogan

6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
G/F
Sydney Mitchell

#23 Sydney Mitchell

5' 11"
Senior
G
Tori Obenrader

#25 Tori Obenrader

5' 11"
Junior
G/F
Samantha Pirosko

#44 Samantha Pirosko

5' 10"
Redshirt Sophomore
C/F
Emily Poling

#20 Emily Poling

5' 9"
Junior
G
Emma Wright

#13 Emma Wright

5' 10"
Redshirt Junior
G