Bri Claxon
Jeff Kirik

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

Gannon Collars Huskies to Improve to 8-0

Golden Knights open PSAC action with 67-64 win

ERIE, Pa. – The Gannon women's basketball team opened up PSAC action on Friday morning with a hard-earned 67-64 win over Bloomsburg at the Hagerty Family Events Center. The victory boosted the Golden Knights to 8-0 while Bloomsburg saw its three-game winning streak come to an end while dropping to 3-2.

Gannon came in ranked third in the latest D2CSC Top 25 and fourth according to the WBCA poll. The Golden Knights were without leading scorer Kate Ratliff (Canal Winchester, Ohio/Canal Winchester), however, and both teams had to face a morning tipoff with the game starting at 11:00 a.m.

Neither team was able to grab a significant lead in the contest. Gannon led by seven points on two occasions in the third quarter while the Huskies had a seven-point lead at 25-28 in the second quarter. The game featured eight ties and five lead changes.

Gannon is right back in action on Saturday afternoon hosting another much-improved team from the Eastern Division, East Stroudsburg. Tipoff at the Hagerty Family Events Center is 1:00 p.m.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The first quarter ended with the two teams tied at 13-13. Andrea Maibach (Creston, Ohio/Norwayne) scored seven straight points to give the Golden Knights a 13-8 lead before Bloomsburg scored the final five points of the period. Maibach had ten of Gannon's 13 points in the opening period.

The game changed when Maibach picked up her second foul 13 seconds into the second quarter. Gannon went without a point until the 5:37 mark when Maddy Wheatley (Canberra, Australia/UCSSC Lake Ginninderra) scored on a layup. The Golden Knights went over six-and-a-half minutes without a score as Bloomsburg ran off ten straight points.

Bloomsburg's lead reached seven points at 25-18 before the Golden Knights closed the half on a 15-4 run to take a 33-29 lead at intermission. Olivia Cernuto (Scottdale, Pa./Southmoreland), playing in her first game this season, keyed the spurt. The sophomore guard made a layup, followed it up with a steal and made two free throws. Trinitee Harris (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Central) added four points in the run.

Foul trouble plagued the Golden Knights in the third quarter, Gannon went ahead 41-34 with seven minutes remaining but moments later Maibach picked up her third personal foul. In addition, Wheatley was saddled with four fouls. The period would end with Gannon clinging to a 49-46 lead after Harris' layup with three seconds left.

Bloomsburg tied the game at 50-50 early in the fourth quarter. Maibach's layup gave Gannon the lead for good but the Golden Knights could never shake the Huskies. The lead was just one at 59-58 midway through the quarter before Harris scored the next four points to boost the advantage to 63-58 with 3:14 left.

The Huskies closed to within two thanks to 3-pointer but Wheatley's leaning one-hander in the lane built the lead back to four points. Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster) followed with a jumper for a six-point advantage at 67-61. Bloomsburg scored the next three points to make it 67-64. With the shot clock winding down in the final 15 seconds Claxon's shot was off the mark but Harris swooped in for the offensive rebound and Gannon maintained possession to close out the game.

BY THE NUMBERS
The trio of Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster), Andrea Maibach (Creston, Ohio/Norwayne) and Trinitee Harris (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Central) combined for 45 points. Claxon paced the Golden Knights with 18 points, making 8-of-12 field goals. Maibach was limited to 18 minutes due to foul trouble and eventually fouled out, but the redshirt sophomore had 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Harris added 12 points.  

Cernuto, a 5-foot-7 sophomore who had missed the first even games with an injury, added five points and led the Golden Knights with six rebounds and three assists.

Leah Kale paced Bloomsburg with a game-high 21 points. Alison Hatajik had a double double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Gannon shot 45.5 percent from the floor (25-of-55), making 2-of-15 3-pointers. The Huskies were limited to 40.4 percent (21-of-52) and went 4-of-12 from beyond the arc. Gannon was a near-perfect 15-of-17 at the line compared to 18-of-24 for Bloomsburg.

With Ratliff missing and Maibach and Wheatley spending long periods of time on the bench with foul trouble the Huskies ended the day with a 37-28 rebounding advantage. Gannon countered by forcing 20 turnovers while committing 13. It led to a 20-4 edge in points off turnovers.

NEXT FOR THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Gannon is right in action on Saturday, hosting East Stroudsburg in another PSAC crossover contest. The game gets underway at 1:00 p.m. at Hagerty Family Events Center. 
 
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Players Mentioned

Olivia Cernuto

#5 Olivia Cernuto

G
5' 7"
Sophomore
Bri Claxon

#12 Bri Claxon

G
5' 7"
Junior
Trinitee Harris

#11 Trinitee Harris

PG
5' 7"
Senior
Andrea Maibach

#34 Andrea Maibach

P
6' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore
Kate Ratliff

#23 Kate Ratliff

G
6' 0"
Sophomore
Maddy Wheatley

#4 Maddy Wheatley

G
5' 11"
Redshirt Junior
Freshwater/Marine Biology and Environmental Science

Players Mentioned

Olivia Cernuto

#5 Olivia Cernuto

5' 7"
Sophomore
G
Bri Claxon

#12 Bri Claxon

5' 7"
Junior
G
Trinitee Harris

#11 Trinitee Harris

5' 7"
Senior
PG
Andrea Maibach

#34 Andrea Maibach

6' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore
P
Kate Ratliff

#23 Kate Ratliff

6' 0"
Sophomore
G
Maddy Wheatley

#4 Maddy Wheatley

5' 11"
Redshirt Junior
Freshwater/Marine Biology and Environmental Science
G