Sam Pirosko, left, and Carissa Dunham play tough defense against Tampa.
Shiloh Skillenrobison
65
Winner Gannon Gannon 9-1,2-0 PSAC
33
East Stroudsburg ESU 2-4,0-2 PSAC
Winner
Gannon Gannon
9-1,2-0 PSAC
65
Final
33
East Stroudsburg ESU
2-4,0-2 PSAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Gannon Gannon 16 20 18 11 65
East Stroudsburg ESU 5 12 13 3 33

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

Gannon Completes Two-Game Eastern Swing with 65-33 Win at East Stroudsburg as Defense Shines Once Again

Golden Knights have now won six straight games

EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – Yesterday the Gannon defense was suffocating. Today let's call it stifling. For the second straight game and third time in the last four games the Golden Knights held an opponent under 35 points. Gannon completed a sweep of its two-game PSAC crossover trip to eastern Pennsylvania with a 65-33 win at East Stroudsburg.

The Golden Knights have now won six straight games to improve to 9-1 on the season and 0-2 in the PSAC West. They came in ranked ninth in the latest WBCA Division II Top 25 and 13th in the D2CSC poll.

Both teams struggled offensively to start the game, but it was monumental on East Stroudsburg's part. Gannon scored the first basket of the game on a McKel Nation (Lebanon, Ohio/Springboro) layup at 9:14, and neither team scored again for two-and-a-half minutes. That's when Nation scored on a layup again. Carissa Dunham (Fairview, Pa./Villa Maria) followed with a pair of layups along with a free throw as Gannon opened the game on a 9-0 run.

East Stroudsburg was held scoreless until the 3:22 mark when Katie Geisler scored to make it 9-2. Prior to that the Warriors began the game with two missed shots and 11 turnovers. All told they turned the ball over 13 times in the first quarter as Gannon led 16-5 after ten minutes. It was the fourth straight quarter Gannon held an opponent under double figures.

The lead would grow to 36-17 at the half. ESU scored the first basket of the half to make it a 17-point deficit but the Warriors pulled no closer the rest of the way. After giving up 25 points in the middle two periods the Gannon defense again clamped down on the Warriors. Gannon outscored ESU 11-3 in the fourth quarter. All the ESU points came on free throws as the Warriors missed all 12 of their field goal attempts in the final period.

Gannon ended the game shooting 40.8 percent from the floor (20-of-49), making 6-of-19 3-pointers, along with going 19-of-23 at the line. East Stroudsburg finished at 19.4 percent, making a mere seven field goals in 36 attempts! The Warriors were 1-of-5 from beyond the arc and went 18-of-21 at the line.

The Gannon Knights held a narrow 31-30 advantage on the glass but the biggest difference was turnovers. Gannon forced the Warriors into 28 turnover, and while they committed 16, the Golden Knights held a whopping 30-2 edge in points off turnovers.

Ten Golden Knights scored with Dunham leading the way with 17 points, one off her career high. The sophomore guard made 6-of-11 field goals, including 3-of-6 3-pointers, and went 2-of-3 at the line.

Samantha Pirosko (Eastlake, Ohio/Eastlake North) was also in double digits – for the 43rd straight game – with 12 points, adding a team-high seven rebounds. Pirosko was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line as she now has 1,713 career points. She added six steals. Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster) came off the bench to also score 12 points, making 5-of-8 field goals, in 17 minutes.

Gannon returns to action on Wednesday, December 6 playing at Findlay. The final non-conference game of the season tips off at 5:30 p.m. 
 
Print Friendly Version