SM
71
Winner Gannon Gannon 20-5,15-5 PSAC
58
Clarion Clar 5-20,4-16 PSAC
Winner
Gannon Gannon
20-5,15-5 PSAC
71
Final
58
Clarion Clar
5-20,4-16 PSAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Gannon Gannon 15 19 19 18 71
Clarion Clar 19 16 15 8 58

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

Gannon Reaches 20 Wins Thanks to Fourth Quarter Surge at Clarion

CLARION, Pa. – Head coach Cleve Wright has now guided his Gannon women's basketball teams to seven 20-win seasons after the Golden Knights used a dominating fourth quarter to pick up a 71-58 win at Clarion. The road win boosted Gannon to 20-5 overall and 15-5 in the PSAC West, while Clarion dropped to 5-20 and 4-16, respectively. The Golden Knights have now won 11 straight games against Clarion and 29 of the last 30.

After trailing by as many as nine points early in the second quarter at 24-15, Gannon climbed back into the game trailing by just a point at the half at 35-34. They would grab their first lead since midway through the first quarter when Sydney Mitchell (Halethorpe, Md./Seton Keough) buried a 3-pointer early in the third period, but Clarion would build a four-point lead at 44-40 on a Cory Santoro trifecta.

Gannon gained control of the lead for good with just under three minutes left in the third quarter on a bucket by Samantha Pirosko (Eastlake, Ohio/Eastlake North) and led 53-50 with ten minutes remaining. They then opened the fourth quarter with eight straight points, with Delaney Dogan (West Middlesex, Pa./West Middlesex) taking part in each one, as the lead grew to 61-50 with 6:18 showing. Emma Wright (Fairview, Pa./Talawanda) opened the period with a layup off a feed from Dogan, and Dogan then hit a 3-pointer. The 6'0" senior added a layup and one of two free throws to cap the run.

Clarion would break the run on a 3-pointer, but Gannon proceeded to build the lead to as much as 14 points, that coming with just over a minute remaining on a Dogan layup. All told, Gannon outscored Clarion 18-8 in the final stanza while holding an opponent under 60 points for the 14th time.

Pirosko led three Golden Knights in double figures with 20 points, her second straight 20-point effort and fifth of the season. The 5'10" sophomore made 8 of 15 field goals, including a 3-pointer, and went 3 for 3 at the line. She has now made 30 straight free throws after entering the game leading Division II in free throw percentage.

Mitchell continued her hot play as she scored a season-high 18 points, making 4 of 8 3-pointers. She added two assists and two steals. Dogan finished with 10 points and a pair of blocked shots. Wright chipped in with eight points, making 2 of 3 3-pointers.

Gannon dominated the glass, outrebounding the Golden Eagles 48-24. That included 14 offensive rebounds while limiting Clarion to just three second chances. Emily Poling (Defiance, Ohio/Defiance), Wright and Mitchell all grabbed eight rebounds while Pirosko and Dogan had seven. Gannon held a 16-2 edge in second chance points and outscored Clarion 32-12 in the paint.

After a slow start, the Golden Knights ended the night shooting 44.8 percent from the floor (26 of 58), and enjoyed a 10 for 23 effort on 3-pointers. It's the fourth time this year they have reached double figures in 3-pointers made. They made 9 of 15 free throws. Clarion was limited to 34.5 percent from the floor (19 of 55), although the Golden Eagles would make 10 of 25 3-pointers. They went 10 of 12 at the line.

Santoro led all scorers with 22 points, making 4 of 5 3-pointers. Allyson Kirby finished with 12 points and Sierra Bermudez had 10.

Just two games remain in the regular season with Gannon currently ranked seventh in the initial NCAA Atlantic Region rankings. They'll have a chance to build on their two-game lead on Saturday, February 19 at Slippery Rock before wrapping up the regular season against Cal U on Saturday, February 26.  
 
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