Kate Ratliff vs. IUP
Taylor Brown
52
Indiana (PA) IUP 10-3,6-2 PSAC
68
Winner Gannon Gannon 17-1,9-0 PSAC
Indiana (PA) IUP
10-3,6-2 PSAC
52
Final
68
Gannon Gannon
17-1,9-0 PSAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Indiana (PA) IUP 12 10 17 13 52
Gannon Gannon 17 11 22 18 68

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

No. 3/4 Gannon Rolls to 68-52 Win over IUP for 14th Straight Victory

ERIE, Pa. – The Gannon women's basketball team completed a brutal stretch of three games in eight days with a 68-52 win over Indiana (Pa.) at the Hagerty Family Events Center on Saturday afternoon. Ranked third by the WBCA and fourth in the D2CSC Top 25, the Golden Knights improved to 17-1 overall with their 14th straight win. They are now 9-0 in the PSAC West while dropping IUP to 6-2 in conference play and 10-3 overall.

Over the last eight days Gannon played at California (Pa.) last Saturday, at Edinboro on Wednesday and then hosted a hot IUP squad on Saturday. Both Edinboro and IUP came in riding six game winning streaks. Gannon's 14-game winning streak is the longest since the 2013-14 team won 17 straight games.

Gannon sent a message immediately to the Crimson Hawks while winning for the fifth time in the last six meetings vs. IUP. The Golden Knights jumped out to an 8-0 lead and never trailed in the game. Andrea Maibach (Creston, Ohio/Norwayne) won the opening tip, tipping it to Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster) who scored on a layup three seconds into the game.

Claxon followed with a steal and a short jumper. After an IUP miss freshman Kate Ratliff (Canal Winchester, Ohio/Canal Winchester) scored on a layup. Gannon made it 8-0 when Maibach's steal led to a bucket by Trinitee Harris (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Central). With 8:13 left in the opening quarter IUP was forced to call timeout.

The Crimson Hawks pulled to within 17-12 after one quarter and trailed 28-22 at the half. They would score the first four points of the third quarter and suddenly Gannon's advantage was just 28-26. The Golden Knights gained some breathing room with the next six points, four by Samantha Pirosko (Eastlake, Ohio/Eastlake North).

Leading 38-31 midway through the third quarter the Golden Knights put what amounted to the finishing blows on the Crimson Hawks.  They went on an 8-0 run with Pirosko and Maddy Wheatley (Canberra, Australia/UCSSC Lake Ginninderra) scoring three points apiece to pull ahead 46-31 with 2:57 remaining. Gannon would hold a 50-39 lead after three quarters.

When Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster) drained a 3-pointer with just under six minutes remaining the Golden Knights held a 16-point margin at 61-45. Over the next two minutes IUP cut the lead to nine points with a run of six straight points.

IUP had a chance to pull even closer as Gannon went scoreless for four minutes, but the Crimson Hawks missed three straight shots. The Golden Knights then closed out the game with the final seven points as Pirosko made a pair of free throws and Claxon capped a brilliant day with the final five points.

Claxon, a sophomore guard, led all scorers with 23 points. It was her fifth 20-point effort of the season, all in the last seven games. She made 10-of-19 field goals, including 3-of-7 3-pointers.

Pirosko recorded her sixth double-double of the season while scoring in double figures for the 51st straight game, finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds. She added a pair of assists and two steals. Pirosko now has 1,850 career points, good for fourth all-time, and is seventh in career rebounds with 739.

Ratliff made her third career start as the freshman ended with 10 points, two assists and two steals. Maibach, a redshirt freshman, added seven points and seven rebounds.

Gannon shot 48.3 percent for the game (29-of-60), making 4-of-16 3-pointers, and was 6-of-11 at the line. The Golden Knights came in ranked sixth in Division II in scoring defense (53.5 ppg.) and leads the PSAC in field goal percentage defense (35.4 pct.). They turned up the defense against the Crimson Hawks, holding them to 52 and 33.3 percent shooting from the floor (20-of-60).

Both teams came in among the better rebounding teams in Division II, with IUP leading the PSAC. IUP ruled the boards in the first half, but at the end of the game the Golden Knights trailed by just one board at 38-37.

Gannon returns to action on Wednesday, January 17 with the first of back-to-back road contests. The Golden Knights play at Slippery Rock with tipoff set for 5:30 p.m. at Morrow Fieldhouse. On Saturday, January 20 Gannon plays at Clarion.
 
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