15
Sean Gallagher

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

No. 16 Gannon Hosts Mansfield, Bloomsburg in Weekend PSAC Contests

MANSFIELD MOUNTAINEERS (2-5, 1-2 PSAC East) at No. 16 GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS (6-1, 2-1 PSAC West)
DATE/TIME: Saturday, December 18, 2021 | 1:00 p.m.
ARENA/LOCATION: Hammermill Center l Erie, Pa.
LIVE VIDEO
LIVE STATS
 
BLOOMSBURG HUSKIES (4-5, 2-1 PSAC East) at No. 16 GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS (6-1, 2-1 PSAC West)
DATE/TIME: Sunday, December 19, 2021 | 1:00 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-MANSFIELD ALL-TIME SERIES
Gannon leads 9-1   
Last Meeting:  Dec. 20, 2019 – Gannon 66, at Mansfield 49 I RECAP
Gannon has won nine of ten meetings with the Mountaineers, including wins in all six meetings at the Hammermill Center. The Golden Knights posted a 66-49 victory at Mansfield in the last meeting. Mansfield's victory came in the 2016-17 season, 57-50 at Mansfield. Chelsea Rourke led the Golden Knights with 18 points.
 
THE GANNON-BLOOMSBURG ALL-TIME SERIES
Gannon leads 9-3   
Last Meeting:  Dec. 21, 2019 – Gannon 70, at Bloomsburg 56 I RECAP
Gannon has won all four meetings at the Hammermill Center, but the Huskies have claimed two of the last five meetings. It was the Golden Knights coming away with the victory in the last meeting, 70-56, at Bloomsburg in 2019-20. Tori Obenrader (Fryburg, Pa./North Clarion) finished the game with 15 points and nine boards to lead Gannon.
 
 
ERIE, Pa. – Gannon head coach Cleve Wright has always found ways to win at Gannon so it's no surprise that his current edition is off to a 6-1 start and ranked 16th in the latest WBCA Division II Top 25. The Golden Knights look to improve on their 2-1 record in PSAC action with a pair of games this weekend. They host Mansfield on Saturday, December 18, followed by a date with Bloomsburg on Sunday, December 19. Both contests tip off at 1:00 p.m. at the Hammermill Center.
 
Wright's squad picked up its second straight win on Tuesday, dominating in the middle two periods for 58-46 win over Lock Haven in the first of three straight home games. Gannon welcomed back Samantha Pirosko (Eastlake, Ohio/Eastlake North), who missed almost two entire games with an injury, but were without Tori Obenrader (Fryburg, Pa./North Clarion). Delaney Dogan (West Middlesex, Pa./West Middlesex) finished with 20 points and GU forced 20 turnovers.
 
Mansfield visits the Hammermill Center with a 2-5 record and is 1-2 in the PSAC. The Mountaineers dropped a 52-39 decision at Mercyhurst on Tuesday and now return again to Erie. Bloomsburg will play three games in four days in Erie County, playing at Edinboro on Thursday and Mercyhurst on Saturday. The Huskies suffered a 72-60 loss at Edinboro to drop to 4-5 and 2-1 in the PSAC.
 
Following this weekend's games Gannon breaks for Christmas before concluding the 2021 portion of its season on New Year's Eve, playing at Wheeling.
 
GANNON 16TH IN LATEST 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 16th place. In addition, they are among "receiving votes" in the D2SIDA poll after being as high as ninth place. 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. The coaches' preseason poll had Bloomsburg sixth and Mansfield ninth in the Eastern Division.
 
2021-22 IN A WORD – ADVERSITY
It's a word that head coach Cleve Wright has used on more than one occasion this year to describe the early portion of the 2021-22 season. The veteran coach has made sure his team ignores a series of injuries and a tough early-season schedule to maintain Gannon's winning tradition. Most recently, leading scorer Samantha Pirosko (Eastlake, Ohio/Eastlake North) missed three-quarters of the Shepherd game, Gannon's lone loss, and all of the Shippensburg game. The latter contest was a rematch of the 2019-20 PSAC Tournament semifinals. Then on Tuesday GU was without top reserve Tori Obenrader (Fryburg, Pa./North Clarion), who continues to make her way back following knee surgery that forced her to miss the last nine games last year. Wright continues to get contributions from unexpected sources each game while off to a 6-1 start.
 
PIROSKO MAKES QUICK RETURN
Entering the two-game eastern swing to Shepherd and Shippensburg, Samantha Pirosko (Eastlake, Ohio/Eastlake North) was leading the PSAC in scoring at 21.8 ppg. The 5'10" sophomore would go down with an injury early in the second quarter at Shepherd and sit out the Shippensburg game. She made a quick recovery to play on Tuesday against Lock Haven. In 25 minutes, she contributed six points and a team-high seven rebounds.
 
DOGAN BATTLES BIG BALD EAGLE SQUAD AS KNIGHTS OVERCOME SLOW START
With Samantha Pirosko (Eastlake, Ohio/Eastlake North) at less than 100 percent and Tori Obenrader (Fryburg, Pa./North Clarion) out, Delaney Dogan (West Middlesex, Pa./West Middlesex) was forced to battle a Lock Haven squad that featured numerous interior players with plenty of size. After a slow start, the 6'0" senior fell one point shy of her career high with 20 points. She made 8-of-12 3-pointers, including her second career 3-pointer, and was 3-for-3 at the line. Dogan added four rebounds and a pair of blocks.
 
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 – 66.9 (7th)
Scoring Defense – 58.7 (6th)
Field Goal Pct. -- .425 (5th)
Field Goal Pct. Defense -- .416 (16th)
3FGM per Game – 4.7 (13th)
Rebound Margin -- +4.0 (4th)
Turnover Margin -- +4.71 (2nd)
 
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 312-195 and is 277-108 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.
 
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.
 
GU ENDURES 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.
 
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 MANSFIELD
Mansfield makes its second trip to northwestern Pennsylvania this week with a 2-5 record and is 1-2 in PSAC action. The Marauders dropped a 52-39 decision at Mercyhurst on Tuesday. Head coach Amy Seenfelder is in her first season after a highly-successful four-year stint at Division III Hilbert. The Mountaineers look to play a slow-down game, scoring 49.0 ppg., but allowing just 55.3 ppg.  They have a season-high of 59 points, but have allowed 60-or-more points just twice. Paige Whitfield, a 5'8" senior, leads the Mountaineers at 10.3 ppg., adding 5.3 rpg. She's also tied for the team lead in assists (17) and steals (13). Jasmine Hilton, a 5'10" junior, is the top rebounder, pulling down 8.0 per game, while adding 9.3 ppg. She also has 13 steals.
 
SCOUTING BLOOMSBURG
The Huskies are 4-5 overall and 2-1 in the PSAC after a 72-60 loss at Edinboro on Thursday. They play at Mercyhurst on Saturday looking to snap a two-game losing streak. Bloomsburg owns a 59-58 overtime win over Cal, along with a win over Slippery Rock in PSAC action. Five of their games have been decided by six points or less. Former Mansfield standout Alison Tagliaferri is in her sixth season as head coach at Bloomsburg after coaching four seasons at her alma mater. Graduate students Meghan Corridoni and Emma Saxton account for almost half of the Huskies' offensive production. Corridoni, a 6'1" forward, averages almost a double-double at 14.9 ppg. and 9.7 rpg., along with 13 blocks. Saxton, a 5'8" guard, adds 13.8 ppg. and 6.3 rpg. with 14 steals.  The duo combined for 34 points and 24 rebounds at Edinboro. Bloomsburg averages 60.4 ppg. while allowing 60.2 ppg.  
 
NEXT FOR THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Gannon is off now until New Year's Eve when they travel to Wheeling for a 2:00 p.m. tip off. That contest not only marks the final game of the 2021 portion of the schedule but is the last non-conference game in 2021-22.
 
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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