CALIFORNIA, Pa. – Seniors Sam Pirosko and Emma Wright (Fairview, Pa./Talawanda) each dominated a half Wednesday as the Gannon University women's basketball team held off a talented California team 76-65 in a PSAC West showdown at the Convocation Center.

Wright finished with a game-high 28 points, and Pirosko scored 27 as they combined for all but 21 of Gannon's points.

Pirosko was unstoppable in the first half, scoring 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field to help Gannon grab a 39-25 halftime lead.

However, the Vulcans double-teamed Pirosko throughout the second half and limited her to just four field-goal attempts.

That defensive strategy freed up space for Wright, who was red-shot from 3-point range. She piled up 18 second-half points while scoring in a variety of ways – 3-point field goals, drives down the lane, and free throws.

Wright finished 9-of-15 from the field, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range. She also sank all six of her free-throw attempts. Four of those came while Gannon was protecting a slim lead in the fourth quarter.

By recording its fifth victory in a row, coach Cleve Wright's Gannon team improved to 23-3 overall and remained in first place in the PSAC West with a 15-3 record. The Golden Knights clinched a PSAC Tournament berth and moved closer to securing the PSAC West regular-season title and the No. 1 seed for the PSAC Tournament.

Gannon leads second-place Edinboro (12-5) by 2½ games with four games to play in the regular season. Boro edged Seton Hill 101-99 on Wednesday in double overtime. Third-place Cal dropped to 15-9 and 11-7.

Pirosko continues to be a leading candidate for PSAC West Player of the Year after she collected her fourth consecutive game of 22 points or more. She is averaging 19.3 points per game for the season, and she's scoring at a 24-point clip during the past four games. She also led Gannon with 10 rebounds on Wednesday.

Gannon built a 16-point lead twice in the third quarter, including 50-34 with 4:23 left in the period. Led by Rajah Fink (team-high 18 points) and Ciaira Loyd (16 points), Cal worked its way back into the game with an 18-3 run that trimmed the lead to 53-52 early in the fourth quarter.

From there, Gannon kept expanding its lead and Cal kept trimming it. The Golden Knights led 62-61 with 4:17 remaining before outscoring the Vulcans 14-4 the rest of the way.

Gannon had shot at least 50 percent for the first four games of its winning streak. The Knights just missed the 50 percent mark on Wednesday, shooting 49 percent (25-of-51). They also hot 82.6 percent (19-of-23) from the foul line.
For the season, GU leads the PSAC in field-goal percentage (45.9 percent) and free-throw percentage (78.9 percent).

Gannon will get a week off after playing three games in five days. The Golden Knights will return to action against Clarion at home on Wednesday, Feb. 15.