Sam P
Mike Gallagher
55
Winner Gannon Gannon 23-6,16-6 PSAC
47
Kutztown Kutz 26-6,18-3 PSAC
Winner
Gannon Gannon
23-6,16-6 PSAC
55
Final
47
Kutztown Kutz
26-6,18-3 PSAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Gannon Gannon 18 16 6 15 55
Kutztown Kutz 12 12 14 9 47

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

Gannon Notches Up the Defense to Reach PSAC Championship Game with 55-47 Win at Kutztown

KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Prior to Saturday's PSAC Women's Basketball Tournament semifinal game between Gannon and Kutztown, PSAC Commissioner Steve Murray presented Gannon's Emma Wright (Fairview, Pa./Talawanda) with the PSAC Champion Scholar award. Wright then went out and opened the game with back-to-back 3-pointers and the Golden Knights never trailed while upsetting the host Golden Bears, 55-47, to advance to Sunday's PSAC Championship game.

Gannon, 23-6 and the number-two seed out of the Western Division, will defend its 2020 PSAC championship against Cal (24-4), the top PSAC West seed, in an all-Western Division final. It will be the rubber game after Gannon won at Cal (61-54) in January and the Vulcans edged Gannon at the Highmark Events Center last Saturday (63-57). Cal ran away from Shepherd, 78-49, in Saturday's first semifinal game.

While Gannon never relinquished the lead at Keystone Arena, there were certainly some anxious moments in the second half for head coach Cleve Wright. The Golden Knights shot 53.4 percent from the floor (14 of 26) in the first half and held a 34-24 lead at the half. The largest lead of the game came at 32-20. The Knights made 6 of 13 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes. Samantha Pirosko (Eastlake, Ohio/Eastlake North) had 12 points in the first half.



The second half was another story, as Kutztown, one of the top defensive teams in Division II, held Gannon to just three baskets the entire half in 25 attempts. The Gannon defensive effort was just as impressive, particularly in the fourth quarter with the game on the line. Kutztown made just 2 of 12 shots in the tell-tale fourth quarter, and Gannon held the Golden Bears scoreless for a period of almost five minutes and without a basket for six-and-a-half minutes.

Kutztown quickly climbed back into the contest in the third period as Gannon missed its first five shots before Wright's layup at the 7:03 mark gave the Golden Knights a 36-28 lead. The Golden Bears ran off the next seven points, part of an 11-2 run to start the second half as they closed to 36-35. Pirosko would make a pair of free throws, Gannon's first attempts of the game with 2:54 left in the third quarter, for a 38-35 advantage. The third quarter ended with Gannon clinging to a 40-38 lead.

Gannon began the fourth quarter with six straight misses, but Kutztown did not score as well until Naia Pulliam's steal and layup with 7:33 remaining, tying the game at 40-40. Wright stepped up and drained a three for Gannon's first basket in over ten minutes with 6:41 left in the contest, and GU had the lead for good at 43-40.

Pulliam made a pair of free throws to bring Kutztown to 43-42 at the 6:20 mark, but Gannon's defense would not allow another point for almost five minutes. In between, Wright scored on a layup, and Pirosko and Tori Obenrader (Fryburg, Pa./North Clarion) converted two free throw attempts each to build the lead back up to 49-42 with 1:38 left to play.

Casey Remolde finally broke Kutztown's scoreless spell with a pair of free throws with1:26 left to close to 49-44. A Gannon miss followed by a Pulliam 3-pointer closed the GU lead to 49-47, but the Golden Bears were forced to foul. Sydney Mitchell (Halethorpe, Md./Seton Keough), playing in her school-record 130th game, made a pair at the charity stripe, with Emily Poling (Defiance, Ohio/Defiance) and Obenrader doing the same in the final 40 seconds.

Pirosko, a 5'10" sophomore who was named to the All-PSAC West first team on Thursday, led all scorers with 16 points, adding seven rebounds. Wright added 15 points, making 3 of 7 3-pointers, a game-high eight rebounds, plus endless energy on defense. Mitchell, a second team All-PSAC West selection, finished with eight points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. The senior guard now has 988 career points. Poling had seven points, seven rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.

After the hot start, Gannon ended the game shooting 33.3 percent from the floor (17 of 51), but made 7 of 22 3-pointers. The Golden Knights were 14 of 16 at the line, making 10 of 12 in the fourth quarter. Kutztown was held to 35.2 percent from the floor (19 of 54), and 4 of 20 on 3-pointers, while making 5 of 7 free throws.

The Golden Knights did an outstanding job on the boards, outrebounding KU 39-31. That included 28 defensive rebounds. Gannon had 12 turnovers and Kutztown 13, with the Golden Knights credited with 11 steals. An unselfish Gannon squad had 13 assists on 17 baskets.

Gannon has now held both its PSAC Tournament opponents under 50 points after limiting Pitt-Johnstown to 44 points on Wednesday. It's the fifth time the Golden Knights have limited an opponent to less than 50 points, and the 19th game under 60 points.

Kutztown had three players in double figures. Remolde led the way with 15 points, adding five rebounds. Pulliam came off the bench to contribute 11 points and Rylee Derr had 10 points and seven rebounds.

The 2022 PSAC Championship game will tip off at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday at Keystone Arena. Gannon is looking for its second straight PSAC Championship and third overall, winning in 2010 and 2020. Cal entered the PSAC Tournament ranked second in the latest NCAA Division II Atlantic Region rankings, with Kutztown third and Gannon sixth. Sunday's winner will claim the PSAC's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. The 2022 NCAA Division II Tournament field will be announced on Sunday night.
 
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