Gannon senior Sam Pirosko goes up for a shot against Clarion.
Bryce Dolak
76
Winner Gannon Gannon 2-0,0-0 PSAC
63
Angelo St. ASU 0-2,0-0 Lone Star
Winner
Gannon Gannon
2-0,0-0 PSAC
76
Final
63
Angelo St. ASU
0-2,0-0 Lone Star
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Gannon Gannon 17 20 25 14 76
Angelo St. ASU 16 14 10 23 63

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

Pirosko Powers Golden Knights to 76-63 Upset of No. 19 Angelo State

BILLINGS, Mont. – The Gannon women's basketball team used a dominant third quarter and another big effort by two-time All-American Samantha Pirosko (Eastlake, Ohio/Eastlake North) to post a 71-63 upset of No. 19 Angelo State on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Knights were playing for the second straight day in the D2CCA Tip-Off Tournament hosted by Montana State-Billings.

Gannon is now 2-0 after winning a defensive struggle against Texas A&M-Kingsville, 49-41, on Friday. The Golden Knights have one more game remaining before heading home, facing Tampa on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. The Spartans are ranked fifth in the WBCA Division II Preseason Poll and are off to a 2-0 start with a 63-57 win over Minot State and a 60-58 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville,

The Golden Knights led 17-16 after one quarter against an Angelo State team that was the Lone Star Conference champion a year ago and finished at 26-7. The back-and-forth game saw Gannon take the lead for good on a Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster) jumper at 3:51 for a 30-28 lead. Gannon closed the half on an 11-2 run to take a 37-30 lead at intermission.

Gannon used an 11-0 run early in the third quarter to take a double digit lead at 50-39 midway through the period. Pirosko had a pair of buckets in the run and redshirt freshman Andrea Maibach (Creston, Ohio/Norwayne) also had four points.

All told Gannon had a 23-6 run to end the third quarter and head into the fourth period with a 62-40 lead. Pirosko accounted for nine of those points. The redshirt senior added a basket to start the final period as the lead grew to 64-40, the largest of the game.

Gannon still held a 68-48 lead with 6:13 left before Angelo State cut the margin to 68-54 with 5:05 remaining. A Pirosko layup halted that run and the Ramelles would not challenge the Golden Knights the rest of the way.

Pirosko led all scorers with 28 points, her 35th straight game in double figures. After a slow start from the floor she made 10-of-21 field goals and was 8-of-9 at the line. She also led Gannon with nine rebounds and five steals. She now has 1,579 career points, good for sixth all-time, and moved into a tie for 11th in career rebounds with 625.

Maddy Wheatley (Canberra, Australia/UCSSC Lake Ginninderra) and Claxon were also in double figures with 10 points apiece. Wheatly added five rebounds and three assists, with Maibach also grabbing five boards.
With two freshmen in the starting lineup, Gannon shot 38..3 percent from the floor (23-of-60) , making 4-of-19 3-pointers, and was 21-of-28 at the line. Angelo State shot 53.2 percent from the floor (24-of-46) but took 14 shots less than the Golden Knights. ASU was 2-of-7 from beyond the arc and 13-of-21 at the line. Gannon outrebounded ASU 36-31 and forced 27 turnovers while committing 21.

Sawyer Lloyd, the LSC Preseason Co-Player of the Year, led Angelo State with 15 points.
      
 
 
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