Delaney Dogan vs. D'Youville
83
Winner Gannon Gannon 4-0,0-0 PSAC
77
Walsh Walsh 2-1,0-0 G-MAC
Winner
Gannon Gannon
4-0,0-0 PSAC
83
Final
77
Walsh Walsh
2-1,0-0 G-MAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Gannon Gannon 16 19 26 22 83
Walsh Walsh 12 15 21 29 77

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

Golden Knights Move to 4-0 with 83-77 Win at Walsh Behind Wheatley, Pirosko

NORTH CANTON, Ohio – The Gannon women's basketball team posted an impressive 83-77 win at Walsh on Saturday evening in a matchup of NCAA Tournament teams. The Golden Knights are now 4-0 for the fourth straight year while Walsh tasted defeat for the first time at 2-1.

The game turned out to be Gannon's first road game of the season after the contest was originally schedule d to be played at Gannon on Sunday. It was moved to North Canton, Ohio midway through the week. The win was the 299th for head coach Cleve Wright at Gannon.

The change in venue didn't seem to bother the Golden Knights while facing a team that was 28-5 a year ago and reached the Sweet 16 before losing in the Midwest Regional finals. Gannon jumped out to a 16-12 lead after one quarter and the advantage grew to 35-27 at the half.

Gannon trailed for the last time at 12-10 with 2:43 left in the first quarter but closed the period with the final six points. Sam Pirosko's layup knotted the score at 12-12 and Delaney Dogan's (West Middlesex, Pa./West Middlesex) jumper in the paint at the 31 second mark gave the Golden Knights a lead they would never relinquish. McKel Nation (Lebanon, Ohio/Springboro) ended the quarter with a jumper at the buzzer.

A 7-0 run in the second quarter gave Gannon a 29-20 lead and the Golden Knights went into the locker room with a 35-27 lead in a game that had all the appearances of their usual defensive contests.

That changed in the second half as both teams made 17-of-35 shots. Walsh had been held to 31.0 percent in the opening 20 minutes. The Golden Knights were up to the challenge, outscoring the Cavaliers 26-21 in the third quarter to expand their lead to 61-48 with ten minutes remaining. The lead was as large as 16 points in the period, that coming when Maddy Wheatley (Canberra, Australia/UCSSC Lake Ginninderra) hit a jumper with 56 seconds left for a 61-45 lead.

The lead grew to as much as 19 points on two occasions, the last at 73-54 on Emma Wright's (Fairview, Pa./Talawanda) layup with 6:38 remaining. Gannon still led by 15 points at 78-63 on a Pirosko layup at the three-minute mark, but the Cavaliers would make things interesting down the stretch. They would score the next nine points to suddenly trail by just 78-72 with 1:23 remaining.

Wright snapped the run with a pair of free throws, but a Walsh basket with 49 seconds made it a six-point game once again. Pirosko, one of the top free throw shooters in the country a year ago, stepped to the line and hit a pair with 44 seconds to play for an 82-74 lead. Jamie Schmeltz hit a 3-pointer with 24 seconds left and Walsh was within five, but Madison Demski (Erie, Pa./Villa Maria) hit one-of-two at the line and Pirosko grabbed the rebound off the miss to hold off the Cavaliers.

Wheatley enjoyed her finest game as a Golden Knight. The 5'11" junior from Australia dropped in a career-high 16 points, making 7-of-15 field goals, including a pair of 3-pointers. She had missed the entire 2021-22 campaign with an injury.

Pirosko also scored 16 points and had a team-high nine rebounds to boost her career point total to 903 points. She made 6-of-11 field goals, including a 3-pointer, and was a perfect 3-for-3 at the line. Emma Wright (Fairview, Pa./Talawanda) scored in double figures for the fourth straight game, finishing with 14 points and three assists in 19 minutes.

The bench once again turned in a strong effort, led by Madison Demski's (Erie, Pa./Villa Maria) six points and six rebounds in 23 minutes and four assists from Faith Williams (Grafton, Ohio/Elyria Catholic) in 16 minutes.

Walsh had four players in double digits led by Kiley Dyrlund's 18 points, along with 16 markers from Lexi Scarton. Gannon limited Morgan McMillen, who came in averaging 23.0 ppg., to 14 points along with 11 rebounds. Lauren Galaska had 12 points.

Gannon ended the game shooting a season-high 47.1 percent from the floor (32-of-68), making 8-of-29 3-pointers, while going 11-of-14 at the line. Walsh came in at 40.6 percent from the floor (26-of-64), with a 6-of-23 showing from beyond the arc and went 19-of-25 at the line.

Walsh held a 43-35 advantage on the glass. Gannon committed 15 turnovers and Walsh 17.

The Golden Knights now head to Puerto Rico for the Battle 4 Atlantis playing on Wednesday, November 23 and Thursday, November 24.   
 
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