Sam Pirosko emotional
71
Winner Gannon Gannon 13-1,5-0 PSAC
38
Millersville MU 3-8,1-4 PSAC
Winner
Gannon Gannon
13-1,5-0 PSAC
71
Final
38
Millersville MU
3-8,1-4 PSAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Gannon Gannon 11 15 20 25 71
Millersville MU 4 12 16 6 38

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

No. 3/5 Gannon, Pirosko Overcome Slow Starts for 71-38 Win at Millersville

Golden Knights extend winning streak to 10 games

MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – The Gannon women's basketball team overcame a slow start to run to its tenth straight win on Saturday afternoon, defeating Millersville 71-48. Ranked third in the WBCA Top 25 and fifth in the D2CSC poll, Gannon ends the 2023 portion of its schedule at 13-1 overall and 5-0 in PSAC action. Millersville fell to 3-8 and 1-4, respectively.

The ten-game winning streaking is the longest since last year's team ran off 12 straight victories. It is the eighth time in Cleve Wright's tenure as head coach that the Golden Knights have run off winning streaks of 10-or-more games.

Leading scorer and rebounder Samantha Pirosko (Eastlake, Ohio/Eastlake North) mirrored the team's slow start. The redshirt senior battled foul trouble in the first half and failed to score while playing just seven minutes. Despite her absence the Golden Knights led 26-16 at intermission.  

After not playing for ten days, it might be expected that play was a bit ragged in the first half. Millersville would jump out to a 4-0 lead as Gannon missed its first eight shots and turned the ball over twice. The Golden Knights were scoreless at the first media timeout before Olivia Cernuto's (Scottdale, Pa./Southmoreland) 3-pointer with 4:41 left in the quarter got the Golden Knights on the board.

Cernuto's basket from long distance signaled the start of a 13-0 run for Gannon. Maddy Wheatley's (Canberra, Australia/UCSSC Lake Ginninderra) layup at the 2:12 mark gave Gannon the lead for good at 5-4. Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster) and Trinitee Harris (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Central) scored on jumper's and Claxon's steal and layup with two seconds remaining gave the Golden Knights an 11-4 advantage after one period.

The lead grew to 13-4 on a McKel Nation (Lebanon, Ohio/Springboro) layup early in the second quarter. Millersville finally broke the dry spell with a pair of free throws at 8:16 of the second quarter, ending a stretch of 7 minutes, 49 seconds without a point. The Marauders scored their first basket in 8 minutes, 8 seconds at the 7:57 mark to close the gap to 13-8.

Gannon answered with a run of nine straights points to take its biggest lead of the half at 22-9 with 4:56 left. Kate Ratliff (Canal Winchester, Ohio/Canal Winchester) started the run with a 3-pointer, followed by another Nation layup. Wheatley and Claxon added layups.

Millersville would pull to within 26-16 at the half. The Golden Knights limited the Marauders to 24.0 percent shooting (6-of-25) in the opening 20 minutes. They weren't much better at 34.3 percent (12-of-35) but forced 14 turnovers that led to 16 points.

In a game that featured numerous runs, Millersville closed to nine points at 34-25 early in the third quarter. Gannon answered with a 10-1 run as Pirosko came alive with eight points. Gannon led 46-32 after three quarters.

The fourth period was all Gannon as the Golden Knights outscored Millersville 25-6. With the score 48-34, Gannon used a 20-2 burst to eliminate any Marauder comeback hopes. Pirsoko accounted for 12 of those points.

After going scoreless in the first half Pirosko ended up leading three players in double figures with 18 points. That boosted her career total to 1,780. She extended her strong double-figure games to 47. She also led the Golden Knights with eight rebounds, in the process moving into eighth place in career rebounds with 707.

Claxon continued her strong play with her ninth game in double figures in the last nine contests. The sophomore guard finished with 15 points. Wheatley added 13 points and four steals. Carissa Dunham (Fairview, Pa./Villa Maria) hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with eight points, while Cernuto had seven points. Nation totaled six rebounds and three steals with Harris also contributing six rebounds.

Defense once again was the name of the game for the Golden Knights. They entered the game leading the PSAC and ranked ninth in Division II in scoring defense at 53.1 ppg. Gannon has now held six teams to under 50 points, including four under 40.

The Golden Knights held Millersville to 26.9 percent from the floor (14-of-52) while warming up to finish at 39.3 percent (24-of-51) themselves. Gannon made 6-of-19 3-pointers compared to 1-of-9 for Millersville. The Marauders did not help themselves from the charity stripe, only going 9-of-24. Gannon was 17-of-23 after missing all four attempts in the first half.

Gannon held a 44-38 advantage on the glass, but most telling was the 30-9 advantage in points off turnovers. Gannon forced 23 turnovers while committing 16.

The Golden Knights return to the hardcourt on Wednesday, January 3 hosting Mansfield with a 5:30 p.m. tipoff. The game will mark the first at their home-away-from-home, Cathedral Prep's Hagerty Family Events Center, while renovations begin at the Highmark Events Center.     
 
 
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