ERIE, Pa. – California (Pa.) outscored Gannon 21-12 in the third quarter and held off a late Gannon surge to wrap up the 2021-22 regular season with a 63-57 win over the Knights on Saturday afternoon at the Highmark Events Center. The win clinched the PSAC West Regular Season Title and gives the Vulcans' the western division's No. 1 seed in next week's conference tournament, which begins on Monday on campus sites.
Gannon is the No. 2 seed in the western division and will host the winner of third-seeded Seton Hill and sixth-seeded Pitt-Johnstown on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. in the Highmark Events Center. Seton Hill will host UPJ on Monday in first-round action.
Following Saturday's game, Gannon head coach
Cleve Wright and the women's basketball program honored three seniors who played their final regular season home game in the Highmark Event Center this afternoon. The Gannon seniors included
Breanna Ransom (Brewerton, N.Y./Paul V. Moore),
Sydney Mitchell (Halethorpe, Md./Seton Keough) and
Tori Obenrader (Fryburg, Pa./North Clarion), each of which had a spot in the starting lineup on Saturday afternoon.
Samantha Pirosko (Eastlake, Ohio/Eastlake North) recorded a double-double to lead Gannon this afternoon, finishing with 23 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. Pirosko shot 10-of-13 in game.
Emma Wright (Fairview, Pa./Talawanda) also reached double-figures with 12 points, four rebounds and four assists. Senior
Tori Obenrader (Fryburg, Pa./North Clarion) also chipped in eight points, while
Delaney Dogan (West Middlesex, Pa./West Middlesex) finished with seven points.
Emily Poling (Defiance, Ohio/Defiance) passed out nine assists and forced four steals.
Gannon led by three (27-24) at the half and grabbed a 33-28 advantage at the 7:57 mark of the third following back-to-back layups by Pirosko early in the second half. However, Gannon went scoreless for nearly six minutes and Cal took advantage with a 13-0 run that flipped a five-point deficit into a eight-point lead (41-33) with 3:41 to play.
With Cal still leading by six (45-39) after three quarters of play, the Vulcans began the fourth on a 10-2 run over a two-minute stretch that gave the visitors a 55-41 lead. The Knights didn't go away quietly though, scoring 10 of the next 12 points to cut the Cal lead to just six (57-51) at the 3:37 mark. Gannon attacked the paint during the stretch with five layups.
The Vulcans answered Gannon's 10-2 run with a 3-pointer by Shauna Harrison at the 3:09 mark that put the visitors up by nine late.
Emma Wright (Fairview, Pa./Talawanda) made a pair of 3-pointers late in the game for Gannon, but each was answered by a Cal U score, allowing the Vulcans to close out the 63-57 win.
Gannon shot 50 percent from the floor for the fifth time this season and held a 35-26 rebounding advantage in the setback. However, Cal's pressure defense forced Gannon into 23 turnovers. The Vulcans held a 25-16 advantage in points off turnovers and outscored the Knights 10-0 in second-chance points.
Cal shot 41 percent from the floor, made seven 3-pointers and cashed in on 8-of-10 free throw attempts.
Shauna Harrison led Cal with 22 points and three steals. Dejah Terrell recorded 13 points and seven rebounds before fouling out late in the game. Ciaira Loyd rounded out Cal's double-figure scorers with 10 points and six assists.
