Boston McKinney vs. Charleston
69
Winner Charleston (WV) UCM 24-8,16-6 MEC
65
Gannon Gannon 29-5,19-3 PSAC
Winner
Charleston (WV) UCM
24-8,16-6 MEC
69
Final
65
Gannon Gannon
29-5,19-3 PSAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Charleston (WV) UCM 15 24 16 14 69
Gannon Gannon 21 11 18 15 65

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

Gannon Rally Falls Short in 69-65 Loss to Charleston (WV) at Atlantic Regional

Sam Pirosko caps incredible season with 23 points as Gannon finishes at 29-5

GLENVILLE, W.Va. – For the second year in a row the Gannon women's basketball team saw its season come to an end in heartbreaking fashion in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional. For the second year in a row it came by four points at the Waco Center on the campus of Glenville State. The final score on Friday afternoon was Charleston (WV) 69, Gannon 65.

The loss doesn't diminish what was another outstanding season for the Golden Knights. They finish the year at 29-5, the third-highest win total in school history, while winning the PSAC West regular season crown and finish as the PSAC runner-up. It is the eighth 20-win season in head coach Cleve Wright's 15th season at the helm.

Charleston (24-9), who finished as the runner-up in the Mountain East Conference, moves on to face West Chester in the semifinals. West Chester defeated PSAC champion California (Pa.) in the first quarterfinal.

The game featured a huge swing to it, with Gannon, the No. 2 seed, jumping out to a quick 12-point lead only to see the seventh-seeded Golden Eagles charge back to claim a 13-point advantage in the third quarter at 47-34. That came after Charleston outscored Gannon 8-2 to start the third quarter to build on a 39-32 halftime lead.

Sam Pirosko vs. CharlestonThe Golden Knights battled back behind PSAC West Freshman of the Year Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster) to pull to within 55-50 after three quarters. The 5'7" guard scored eight straight points in a row late in the quarter before Sam Pirosko made a pair of free throws to close out the quarter.

Charleston still led by nine points 65-56 with just under seven minutes to play following a Dakota Reeves' 3-pointer when Gannon came roaring back. The Golden Knights scored the next nine points to pull even at 65-65 with 1:42 left in the game, the fourth tie of the game.

Pirosko started the run with a layup, and Claxon followed with a 3-pointers. The basket proved significant since it was Gannon's only 3-pointer of the game and came after 12 straight misses. Markyia McCormick, who enjoyed an outstanding game for Charleton missed a pair of free throws, and Delaney Dogan (West Middlesex, Pa./West Middlesex) then stepped to the line and made a pair to pull Gannon with two points at 65-63. Following a UC turnover Dogan was fouled and made both again to knot the score at 65-65 with 1:42 left.

They would be the last points of the season for the Golden Knights, however. McCormick gave Charleston the lead on a drive with 1:23 remaining for the last of her game-high 27 points. Claxon came down and misfired on a 10-foot jumper, with UC grabbing the rebound. The Golden Eagles would miss a pair of shots giving the ball back to Gannon with a chance to tie. Reeves came up with a steal with nine seconds to play and followed with a pair of free throws with 5.9 seconds left to seal the win for Charleston.

Gannon jumped out to a 16-4 lead midway through the first quarter on Claxon's jumper. Pirosko got off to a fast start scoring eight of the points. Still leading by 10 points at 19-9 late in the first quarter, the Golden Eagles crawled back into the contest with a 6-2 run to close the period to trail 21-15 after ten minutes.

Charleston opened the second quarter with an 8-2 run to pull to within 23-22 with 6:22 left in the half. From that point on the second quarter was tight until the Golden Eagles surged late in the half to take a 39-32 lead at intermission. They took their first lead since the opening basket of the game at 31-30 on a McCormick layup with 2:26 remaining. It ended up being part of a 9-0 run for Charleston as their lead grew to 37-30. Emma Wright (Fairview, Pa./Talawanda) and Clarissa Francis exchanged baskets to end the quarter as the Golden Eagles outscored Gannon 24-11 in the period.

Pirosko capped an incredible season with her 19th game of 20-or-more points. The PSAC West and D2CCA Atlantic Region Player of the Year finished with 23 points, making 7-of-15 field goals and 9-of-10 free throws. She added a career-high four blocked shots.

Pirosko ends the year with a school-record 693 points and moved up three spots into sixth place in career scoring with 1,541 points. She also set the Gannon season record for free throws made with 154.
Claxon and Dogan joined Pirosko in double figures with 17 and 10 points, respectively. Claxon made 7-of-14 field goals while Dogan was 3-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the line.

McCormick, a senior guard, led Charleston with 27 points, making 11-of-19 field goals, including 3-of-6 3-pointers, and going 2-of-4 at the line. She was joined in double figures by Reeves, who finished with 10 points.

Gannon came into the game leading the PSAC in field goal percentage but the Golden Knights were held to 39.0 percent (23-of-59). Charleston, shot 51.9 percent (28-of-54), just the second team this year to shoot over 50 percent against the Golden Knights and the highest by an opponent.

While UC made 6-of-14 shots from beyond the arc, Gannon came in at 1-of-18. The Golden Knights were 18-of-20 at the line and Charleston 7-of-10. Both teams finished with 31 rebounds, with McKinney, a 5'4" guard, leading Gannon with five rebounds. Charleston committed 18 turnovers and Gannon 10.    
 
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