Sam Pirosko, Delaney Dogan, and Madison Demski are all smiles after Gannon's win against Shippensburg..
Moses Juah
Sam Pirosko, Delaney Dogan, and Madison Demski are all smiles after Gannon's win against Shippensburg.
73
Shippensburg Shipp 24-6,18-4 PSAC
82
Winner Gannon Gannon 29-3,19-3 PSAC
Shippensburg Shipp
24-6,18-4 PSAC
73
Final
82
Gannon Gannon
29-3,19-3 PSAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Shippensburg Shipp 17 16 18 22 73
Gannon Gannon 21 21 17 23 82

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

Pirosko Leads Gannon to 82-73 Win over Shippensburg in PSAC Semifinals; Golden Knights to Face California (Pa.) in Search of Third Straight PSAC Crown

ERIE, Pa. – It will be an all Western Division final and a repeat of last year's title game on Sunday in the 2023 PSAC Championship Game. Sam Pirosko and California (Pa.) made sure of that on Saturday afternoon at the Highmark Events Center.

Cal, the number two seed in the PSAC West, upset Eastern Division top-seed West Chester 62-59 in Saturday's first semifinal. In the nightcap Pirosko and her Golden Knight teammates, the top seed out of the Western Division and the two-time defending PSAC champion, held off PSAC East second seed Shippensburg 82-73. Gannon improved to 29-3 while Shippensburg is 24-6 and awaiting an NCAA Tournament berth. The Golden Knights are ranked 10th in the latest D2SIDA Division II Top 25 and 14th according to the WBCA. They were also second in the NCAA's Atlantic Region rankings.

The two rivals will meet at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday in the championship game with the PSAC's automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament on the line. A year ago Gannon defeated the Vulcans 59-47 at Kutztown for their second straight PSAC crown and third overall. The Golden Knights now look to become the first team to team three consecutive PSAC championships since Indiana (Pa.) in 2007-09.

The Gannon-Shippensburg game featured the Player of the Year in the respective conferences and Pirosko and Ship's Ariel Jones did not disappoint. Gannon had defeated the Raiders 65-48 in December with Jones, the PSAC's all-time leading scorer, limited to eight points by Emma Wright (Fairview, Pa./Talawanda) and foul trouble.

Pirosko ended the day with a game-high 33 points, matching her career high set at Seton Hill five games ago. The redshirt senior forward, selected the PSAC West Athlete of the Year earlier in the week, scored in double figures for the 31st straight game and had her18th game with 20-or-more points and fourth game with 30-or-more points. She has reached the 20-point plateau in nine of the last ten games.

She made 13-of-18 field goals, including both of her 3-point tries, and was 5-of-6 at the line. She also tied of the game-high in rebounds with 12 for her tenth double-double this year. In the process Pirosko went over 1,500 career points now sitting in ninth place in career scoring with 1,503 points. In addition, she broke Gannon's single-season points record with 655 points. She also moved into 14th place in career rebounds with 594. For good measure, she handed out five assists and had a pair of steals.

Actually Pirosko received plenty of assistance as four Golden Knights scored in double figures to post a season-high point total allowed by the Raiders. Boston McKinney (Bolivar, Ohio/Tuscarawas Valley) scored a season-high 12 points, making 3-of-5 3-pointers to go with three assists. Wright contributed 11 points while working to hold down Jones, hitting a key 3-pointer down the stretch, and Maddy Wheatley (Canberra, Australia/UCSSC Lake Ginninderra) made 4-of-5 shots, including both 3-piont attempts, to finish with 10 points.

The bench once again played a key role as Madison Demski (Erie, Pa./Villa Maria) finished with nine points and matched her season-high with eight rebounds, and Ali Benim (Erie, Pa./Harbor Creek) had five points.

The contest was tight early on with six lead changes and four ties. Gannon would lead 21-17 at the end of the first quarter and eventually took a 40-27 lead late in the second quarter on a pair of Pirosko free throws. Jones returned after sitting out time with two fouls and keyed a comeback as Gannon headed to the locker room leading 42-33.

The rest of the game saw the Raiders pull to as close as three points (52-49 with 2:47 left in the third quarter) before Gannon answered. In that instance, the Golden Knights scored the next seven points for a 59-49 lead with 1:37 left in the period. Gannon led 59-51 with ten minutes to play.

Ship opened the quarter with the first four points as Gannon went four minutes without scoring between late in the third quarter and early in the fourth. Three times the Raiders pulled to within four points, the last at 63-59 with 6:29 remaining, and still trailed by just five at 69-64 with just over three minutes to play. Over the next two minutes Gannon went on a 9-3 run to build the lead to double figures at 78-67 with 1:04 left. Pirosko accounted for seven of the points, capped by a jumper off a feed from Demski. Ship was unable to get closer than eight points the rest of the way.   

Jones, a quick senior guard who has scored over 2,700 career points, ended the day with 26 points although the Golden Knights held her to an 11-for-26 shooting performance. Treasure George added 16 points, 13 in the first half, and Lauren Pettis contributed 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Gannon came in as the PSAC's field goal percentage leader and ended the day at 48.3 percent (29-of-60), while Ship was at 43.1 percent (28-of-65). The Golden Knights made 10-of-22 3-pointers and the Raiders were 8-of-22 from beyond the arc. While Gannon made 14-of-18 at the charity stripe the Raiders were just 9-of-20. Gannon held a 39-35 rebounding advantage, while committing 18 turnovers compared to 13 for Ship.   

The Golden Knights have now won 11 straight games and look to match an earlier 12-game winning streak. Cal has run off five straight victories to improve to 20-10. Gannon won both regular season meetings, 70-63 at the Highmark Events Center on Jan. 14 and 76-65 at Cal on Feb. 8.
Gannon's 29 wins are the third-highest season total, eclipsed only by a 37-1 finish in 2009-10 and 31-5 record in 2012-13.
 
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