madison demski inbounds versus edinboro
Bryce Dolak
Madison Demski scored a season-high 15 points vs. Edinboro.
63
Edinboro EU 12-7,9-5 PSAC
80
Winner Gannon Gannon 19-3,11-3 PSAC
Edinboro EU
12-7,9-5 PSAC
63
Final
80
Gannon Gannon
19-3,11-3 PSAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Edinboro EU 15 11 17 20 63
Gannon Gannon 24 15 20 21 80

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

Size, Defense and Depth Power No. 22/8 Golden Knights to 80-63 Win over Edinboro

ERIE, Pa. – A combination of size, defense and depth led Gannon to an 80-63 win over Edinboro on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Knights, ranked eighth in the D2SIDA Division II Top 25 and 22nd according to the WBCA, are now one win away from the eighth 20-win season under head coach Cleve Wright as they improved to 19-3. Edinboro saw its four-game winning streak snapped as the Fighting Scots dropped to 12-7.

Edinboro came in with an opportunity to forge a tie with Gannon for first place in the PSAC West. When today's game ended the Golden Knights found themselves with a two-game lead as the first half of divisional play ended. Gannon is now 11-3, while Edinboro and Pitt-Johnstown both lost to create a four-way tie for second in the Western Division with Indiana (Pa.) and California (Pa.).

After seeing their 12-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday, the Golden Knights sprinted out to a 24-15 lead after ten minutes on Saturday as the Highmark Events Center had a playoff atmosphere to it. They made 9-of-12 shots in the opening quarter as Edinboro never led in the game.

The game was tied on three occasions, the last at 6-6 just under two minutes into the game. Delaney Dogan's (West Middlesex, Pa./West Middlesex) layup at the 7:38 mark gave Gannon the lead for good at 8-6. Dogan's hoop began a 7-0 run for the Golden Knights, and Gannon  closed the quarter with a 3-pointer from Ali Benim (Erie, Pa./Harbor Creek) to make it 24-15.

Gannon built the lead to double digits quickly in the second quarter as they opened the quarter with seven straight points to make it a 10-0 run. The run featured Madison Demski's (Erie, Pa./Villa Maria) 3-point play and a 3-pointer from Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster), the latter making it 31-15 with 6:30 remaining.

The margin grew to 18 points at 35-17 on another Demski basket midway through the quarter, but a pressing Fighting Scots' squad scored the next nine points and Gannon's advantage was just nine points at 35-26 with two minutes remaining. Edinboro did not score again in the half, with baskets by Claxon and Demski leaving Gannon holding a 39-26 lead at intermission.

Gannon's lead grew to as many as 20 points in the third quarter at 57-37 with 1:26 remaining in the quarter on Maddy Wheatley's (Canberra, Australia/UCSSC Lake Ginninderra) jumper in the paint. The period ended with Gannon holding a commanding 59-43 lead despite leading scorer Samantha Pirosko (Eastlake, Ohio/Eastlake North) sitting out a good portion of the period with foul trouble and Emma Wright (Fairview, Pa./Talawanda) departing with an injury with just under four minutes in the quarter.

Gannon built the margin back up to 20 points at 72-52 with 5:10 remaining on Benim's fast break basket. The Fighting Scots had one last run in them. They scored the next eight points to pull to within 72-60 with still 3 minutes, 48 seconds remaining on back-to-back 3-pointers.

The Golden Knights answered back with their own run of six straight points – four by Claxon and two by Demski – to finally put away the Scots.

The bench ended the day contributing 38 points as Pirosko was limited to just 23 minutes and Wright 22. Demski, a 6'2 transfer from Holy Cross, finished with a season-high 15 points while matching her season high of eight rebounds. She made 6-of-9 field goals, adding a pair of steals and two blocks in a season-high 28 minutes.

Claxon, a freshman guard, continued her outstanding play with a game-high 16 points while also logging a season-high 32 minutes. She made 6-of-12 shots. In addition, Benim chipped in with five points off the bench.

Pirosko extended her stretch of consecutive games in double figures to 21 with 10 points despite being limited due to foul trouble. Delaney Dogan (West Middlesex, Pa./West Middlesex) and Boston McKinney (Bolivar, Ohio/Tuscarawas Valley) turned in outstanding efforts, not to mention veteran leadership. Dogan scored nine points, pulled down 10 rebounds, and blocked three shots. Point guard McKinney had nine points and five rebounds while steadying the Knights against the press.

While Wright did not return to action, she contributed seven points and five assists. In addition, Wright and Claxon combined to limited Rana Elhusseini to 11 points on a 5-for-20 shooting effort. The junior guard came in second in the PSAC in scoring at 20.6 ppg. In addition, Gannon held Edinboro's second-leading scorer, Hayley Sims, to 11 points as well. She cam in averaging 15.9 ppg.

Edinboro had four double-figure scorers in all. Maura Suman led the Fighting Scots with 12 points. Bella Burrelli contributed 10 points and seven rebounds.

Gannon ended the game at 51.8 percent (29-of-56) from the floor, the fourth time this season at better than 50 percent. The Golden Knights were 5-of-16 on 3-pointers and were near-perfect at the charity stripe at 17-of-19.

The defense hounded an Edinboro team that came in leading the PSAC in scoring at 76.7 ppg. They shot 35.6 percent (26-of-73) from the floor, including 6-of-27 from beyond the arc. Gannon came in ranked first in the PSAC and 14th in the PSAC in field goal percentage defense. Edinboro was 5-of-11 at the line.

The size of the Golden Knights led to a 43-34 advantage on the glass, although the Scots had 15 offensive boards. Gannon outscored Edinboro 42-28 in the paint. The Fighting Scots, meanwhile, led the PSAC and were eighth in Division II in turnover percentage defense and forced Gannon into 26 turnovers, although the Scots were guilty of 21.

Gannon concludes a three-game homestand on Wednesday, February 1 as the second of PSAC divisional play begins. The Golden Knights host Slippery Rock with the tipoff at 5:30 p.m. at the Highmark Events Center.  
 
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