Sam Pirosko

Women's Basketball Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

No. 3/5 Gannon Renews Spirited Rivalry with California (Pa.) as PSAC West Play Begins

No. 3/5 GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS (13-1, 5-0 PSAC West) at CALIFORNIA (PA) VULCANS (9-3, 4-2 PSAC West)
DATE/TIME: Saturday, January 6, 2024 | 1:00 p.m.
ARENA/LOCATION: Convocation Center l California, Pa.
LIVE STATS l LIVE VIDEO
 
GAME NOTES

THE GANNON-CALIFORNIA (PA) ALL-TIME SERIES
Gannon leads 26-25  
The Golden Knights won both regular season meetings with the Vulcans by scores of 70-63 at the Highmark Events Center and 76-65 at Cal. However, the Vulcans came away with the third meeting in the PSAC Championship game by a 75-63 margin.

The Last Meeting
March 5, 2023 – California (Pa.) 75, at Gannon 63 I PSAC Championship I RECAP
Gannon and California (Pa.) squared off in the PSAC Championship game for the second straight year at the Highmark Events Center. The Vulcans halted Gannon's bid for a third straight conference crown as a late rally came up short. Trailing 57-42 the Golden Knights closed to within 62-58 with just over three minutes remaining and looked poised to take the lead. But the Vulcans scored the next five points to halt Gannon's comeback bid. Madison Demski (Erie, Pa./Villa Maria) paced Gannon with 17 points while Sam Pirosko finished with 15 points and eight rebounds and Maddy Wheatley (Canberra, Australia/UCSSC Lake Ginninderra) added 13 points. Cal received an iron-man effort as three players played 40 minutes and the other two starters 38. Halie Herrington led four Vulcans in double figures with 20 points. Allycia Harris added 19 points and 20 rebounds.  
 

ERIE, Pa. – You would be hard-pressed to find a better rivalry in the PSAC in women's basketball than Gannon vs. California (Pa.). The two Western Division rivals battle twice a year during the regular season and the first meeting in 2023-24 takes place on Saturday, January 6 at 1:00 p.m. at the Convocation Center.

Gannon enters the first of two pivotal meetings with the Vulcans riding an 11-game winning streak and is ranked third in the latest WBCA Division II Top 25 and fifth in the D2CSC Media Poll. The Golden Knights are 14-1 overall and 6-0 in PSAC action. California (Pa.) was nationally-ranked until a recent two-game losing streak. The Vulcans snapped that streak on Wednesday with a 54-51 upset of No. 21 West Chester to improve to 9-3 and 4-2 in the PSAC.

Gannon and California (Pa.) have met the last two years in the PSAC Championship game, with the Golden Knights winning in 2022 and the Vulcans in 2023. The latter was particularly painful since it came on Gannon's homecourt. Cal was chosen the preseason favorite in the Western Division while Gannon was second.

A year ago Gannon won both meetings during the regular season before losing to Cal in the PSAC title game 75-63. The year before that the two teams won on the other's homecourt before Gannon prevailed in the PSAC Championship game at Kutztown 59-47.

In 2019-20 Gannon won both regular season games and went on to win the PSAC Championship. The Golden Knights were set to play Cal in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional before the pandemic canceled the tournament.

Gannon picked up its 11th straight win on Wednesday with a 79-45 win over Mansfield while playing for the first time at the Hagerty Family Events Center. It was another impressive defensive outing for a Gannon team that ranks first in the PSAC and fifth in Division II in scoring defense at 51.5 ppg. Gannon forced 26 turnovers and held the Mountaineers scoreless for over 10 minutes while scoring 18 straight points.

The Golden Knights also pace the PSAC in field goal percentage defense (35.1 pct.), turnovers forced (22.13), and turnover margin (+5.53).
  
THE LAST TIME OUT
Gannon 79, Mansfield 45 – the Golden Knights rode another strong defensive effort to their first win at their home-away-from-home – Cathedral Prep's Hagerty Family Events Center. Gannon limited the Mountaineers to just 18 points at the half and 45 overall, the seventh opponent to score 50 points-or-less this season. Mansfield shot 32.7 percent from the floor (16-of-49). Gannon forced 26 turnovers that led to a 28-15 advantage in points off turnovers. In addition, the Golden Knights dominated in the paint, outscoring the Mountaineers 42-14. Mansfield led briefly at 9-8 but the Golden Knights proceeded to run off 18 straight points and held the Mountaineers without a point for over ten minutes. Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster) led three Golden Knights in double figures with 21 points. Samantha Pirokso extended her consecutive games streak scoring in double digits to 48 games, finishing the night with 18 points, also making 7-of-12 field goals, and added eight rebounds. McKel Nation (Lebanon, Ohio/Springboro) posted her second double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
California (Pa.) 54, West Chester 51 – playing the first of back-to-back games against nationally-ranked teams, Cal held off a late rally to defeat No. 21 West Chester. The Vulcans limited one of the top scoring teams in the PSAC to just 51 points and outrebounded the Golden Rams 44-29. Alicia Young led three Vulcans in double figures with 15 points. Dejah Terrell had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds and Iyahnna Williams came off the bench to contribute 11 points.

Gannon Christens Hagerty Family Events Center with a W
While Cathedral Prep's Hagerty Family Events Center has been open for several years the facility hosted its first college game on Wednesday with Gannon playing the remainder of its home games there. The Golden Knights came away with an impressive 79-45 victory over Mansfield in its first game on its new homecourt. Gannon will play the remainder of the 2023-24 season and likely at least part of the 2024-25 campaign at the Hagerty Family Events Center while the Highmark Family Events Center undergoes extensive renovations.

Nothing but the PSAC West Left on Schedule
Gannon played its last PSAC crossover game on Wednesday against Mansfield. The final 16 games on the schedule will be against Western Division teams. That begins on Saturday when Gannon plays at California (Pa.).

Streaks Nothing New for Wright's Teams
Gannon extended its winning streak to 11 games with Wednesday's 79-45 win over Mansfield. Long winning streaks are almost common for head coach Cleve Wright's teams. A year ago the Golden Knights had a 12-game winning streak and later an 11-game winning streak. The 2020-21 team enjoyed a nine-game winning streak. All told Wright's Gannon teams have now had eight winning streaks of ten games or more. In 2006-07 Gannon won 10 straight games, and the 2008-09 team matched that and also had a nine-game winning streak. Wright's last team in his first tenure in 2012-13 team won 14 straight games. The next year the Golden Knights won 17 games in a row. But the longest winning streak during Wright's tenure came in 2009-10 when Gannon won a school-record 37 straight games to start the season. The streak ended with an overtime loss in the national semifinals.

Gannon Remains Third in WBCA Division II Poll, Fifth in D2CSC Rankings
The Gannon women's basketball team remained third in the WBCA Division II Top 25 and the Golden Knights once again picked up a first place vote. Head coach Cleve Wright's squad jumped two spots to third in the WBCA Top 25 before the holidays after being ranked fifth a week earlier. The third place ranking is the highest attained by the Golden Knights since they were also third late in the 2013-14 season. The WBCA poll at that time was the USA Today Sports Division II Top 25. Gannon was seventh in the D2CSC Top 25 Media Poll three weeks ago and moved up to fifth the week after that.

Sam Moves into Fourth in Career Scoring, Eighth in Rebounding
A year ago Notre Dame (Ohio) held Samantha Pirosko (Eastlake, Ohio/Eastlake North) to six points in the season opener. After that she scored in double figures in the remaining 33 games. The two-time All-American has extended the streak to 48 games with 15 games in double digits to start the 2023-24 campaign. She made things more than a bit interesting at Millersville. After being held scoreless in the first half she scored six points in the third quarter then added 12 points in the fourth quarter to finish with a team-high 18 points. Pirosko added 18 points against Mansfield to boost her career total to 1,798 points. She ranks fourth in career scoring and is now eighth in career rebounding with 715.

Pirosko Third Among Active Scorers in Division II
Samantha Pirokso is currently third in Division in active scoring. Pirosko has scored 1,798 career points. Carson-Newman's Braelyn Wykle is the leading active scorer in Division II with 2,309 points, with Annie Roshak of Ashland is next with 2,012 points.

No Sophomore Slump for Claxon
A year ago Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster) was named the PSAC West Freshman of the Year after averaging 7.8 ppg. She enjoyed several high-scoring games. The sophomore guard was hampered early in the season after missing a decent amount of time during the preseason with an injury. But over the last ten games she has more than made up for it. Claxon has boosted her scoring average to 12.9 ppg. while scoring in double figures in nine of the last ten games, averaging 15.8 ppg. during that stretch. That includes a 26-point effort vs. Kutztown and 21 points against West Chester.

Gannon D Among the Elite
Gannon leads the PSAC and ranks fifth in Division II in scoring defense at 51.5 ppg. The Golden Knights are also first in the PSAC in field goal percentage defense (35.1 pct.) along with leading the conference in turnovers forced per game (22.13) and turnover margin (+5.33) and second in steals (11.5). Gannon's offense isn't too shabby either. The Golden Knights are scoring 74.3 ppg., good for second in the PSAC and 38th nationally. They are shooting 46.5 percent from the floor, a figure which leads the PSAC and is 12th in Division II.

Scouting California (Pa.)
Rumors of California (Pa.)'s demise are greatly exaggerated. Just ask West Chester. The Vulcans were highly-ranked in the Division II national polls before suffering back-to-back losses to Lock Haven (69-58) and Mansfield (65-54). On Wednesday the Vulcans knocked off No. 21 West Chester, 54-51. That fives head coach Jess Strom's team a 9-3 record and 4-2 in PSAC play. Cal also owns wins over nationally-ranked West Virginia State and Fairmont State. Iyahnna Williams is Cal's leading scorer at 11,1 ppg., adding 5.0 rpg. while coming off the bench. The 5'9" junior was a second-team All-MEC honoree a year ago while playing at Alderson-Broaddus. Dejah Terrell adds 10.1 ppg. and 8.2 rpg. with a team-high 16 blocks. The 6'1" redshirt senior earned All-American honors in 2021-22 before missing the 2022-23 season with an injury. Alicia Young and Allycia Harris average 9.7 and 9.6 ppg., respectively. Young, a 5'10" sophomore, is shooting 51.1 percent from the floor. Harris is a 5'9" junior who proved she is a ferocious rebounder a year ago when she pulled down 20 missed shots in the PSAC Championship game against Gannon. She leads the Vulcans with 8.5 ppg.

Next for the Golden Knights
Gannon renews acquaintances with local rival Edinboro on Wednesday, January 10. Tipoff at McComb Fieldhouse is 5:30 p.m. as Gannon plays the second of back-to-back road games.  
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Players Mentioned

Madison Demski

#25 Madison Demski

F
6' 2"
Graduate Student
Bri Claxon

#12 Bri Claxon

G
5' 7"
Sophomore
McKel Nation

#50 McKel Nation

P
6' 2"
Senior
Samantha Pirosko

#44 Samantha Pirosko

P
5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
Maddy Wheatley

#4 Maddy Wheatley

G
5' 11"
Redshirt Sophomore
Undeclared

Players Mentioned

Madison Demski

#25 Madison Demski

6' 2"
Graduate Student
F
Bri Claxon

#12 Bri Claxon

5' 7"
Sophomore
G
McKel Nation

#50 McKel Nation

6' 2"
Senior
P
Samantha Pirosko

#44 Samantha Pirosko

5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
P
Maddy Wheatley

#4 Maddy Wheatley

5' 11"
Redshirt Sophomore
Undeclared
G