wb senior day
70
Kutztown Kutz 2-8,0-3 PSAC
82
Winner Gannon Gannon 11-1,3-0 PSAC
Kutztown Kutz
2-8,0-3 PSAC
70
Final
82
Gannon Gannon
11-1,3-0 PSAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Kutztown Kutz 9 18 20 23 70
Gannon Gannon 12 19 28 23 82

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

No. 5/7 Golden Knights Win Eighth Straight Game Behind Claxon's 26-Point Effort

Golden Knights celebrate Senior Night with 82-70 win over Kutztown

ERIE, Pa. – Playing for the first time since December 6 the Gannon women's basketball team extended its winning streak to eight games with a hard-earned 82-70 win over Kutztown on Monday night. With the win Gannon is now 11-1 overall and 3-0 in PSAC action. The Golden Knights came in ranked fifth in the latest NABC Division II Top 25 and seventh in the D2CSC Top 25.

With Gannon one game away from major renovations beginning at the Highmark Events Center, head coach Cleve Wright elected to hold Senior Night. Seniors Ali Benim (Erie, Pa./Harbor Creek), McKel Nation (Lebanon, Ohio/Springboro) and Samantha Pirosko (Eastlake, Ohio/Eastlake North) were honored following the victory, and Nation and Pirosko played major roles in the win.

But it was the youth of the roster that really stepped up to lead the Golden Knights to the win over a deceiving Kutztown team that came in with a 2-6 record. The Golden Bears played more like the team that was picked to finish second in the PSAC East and had several major performers back from the 26-win season in 2021-22.

Even the score is deceiving since despite the score it was the defenses that dictated the action. Gannon came in ranked second in Division II in scoring defense at 49.9 ppg. and had held the last seven opponents to under 60 points.

Kutztown has always prided itself on its defense, particularly its shot-blocking prowess at the back end. The Golden Bears stayed in the contest by draining 10-of-30 3-pointers and bothering Gannon with a trapping defense. It took the Golden Knights a little time to get acclimated, but once they did the offense came alive with 51 points in the second half.

Gannon led 12-9 after one quarter but Kutztown ran off nine straight points early in the second quarter to grab its first lead. The Golden Bears would lead by as much as six points at 22-16 before Gannon went on a 14-0 run to take the lead for good. The Golden Knights made 8-of-10 free throws in the stretch and Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster) accounted for six points.

It was the start of a big night for the sophomore guard. Claxon bounced off the bench to finish with a season-high 26 points, making 10-of-14 fields, including 2-of-3 3-pointers, and going 4-for-4 from the line. She added four steals.  

Gannon led by a narrow 31-27 margin at the half before using a big third quarter to put some distance between them and the Golden Bears. The Golden Knights outscored Kutztown 28-20 in the third quarter and would forge their largest lead of the night at 62-47 on a Carissa Dunham (Fairview, Pa./Villa Maria) 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter.

Kutztown narrowed the gap to seven points midway through the final period and once again in the final minute but Gannon closed the game with six of the final seven points.

Four Golden Knights scored in double figures, with seniors Nation and Pirosko scoring 14 and 10 points, respectively. Nation enjoyed one of her finest games as a Golden Knight with 14 points and eight minutes in 21 minutes.

Pirosko was harassed all night by a collapsing Kutztown defense. She extended her streak of double-figure games to 45 in a row while moving into fourth place in career scoring with 1,744 points. Maybe key to her contribution were three assists, all in the second half leading to 3-pointers.

Freshman Olivia Cernuto (Scottdale, Pa./Southmoreland) played a key role in the victory with a season-high 10 points in a reserve role while matching her season-high with six assists. Cernuto led a

Gannon ended the night shooting 49.1 percent from the floor (26-of-53), making 6-of-12 3-pointers, and going 24-of-31 at the line. Kutztown made 22-of-55 shots (40.0 pct.), almost half coming from beyond the arc. The Golden Bears were 16-of-20 at the line. Gannon dominated the glass in the second half to hold a 39-24 edge at the end of the game, with junior guard pulling down a season-high nine boards to lead all rebounders.

Gannon committed 21 turnovers while Kutztown had 20 as the Golden Bears held a 27-17 edge in points off turnovers. But they didn't have an answer for the Gannon bench with the Golden Knights reserves outscoring Kutztown's bench 48-19.

In addition to Cernuto, who played 20 minutes, felloe first-year performer Kate Ratliff (Canal Winchester, Ohio/Canal Winchester) saw 24 minutes of action and redshirt freshman Andrea Maibach (Creston, Ohio/Norwayne) also played 24 minutes. Maibach finished with six points, five rebounds and three steals.

Gannon is right back in action on Tuesday hosting West Chester in a showdown of top ten teams. The Golden Rams were upset at Mercyhurst on Monday but come in ranked ninth by the WBCA and 14th in the D2CSC poll. The game will mark Gannon's final contest in the Highmark Events Center before moving over to Cathedral Prep's Hagerty Family Events Center.   
 
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