ERIE, Pa. – Coach Cleve Wright reached a win milestone on Saturday as his team played a familiar style of play that led to so many of those victories.

The Golden Knights gave Wright his 350th win at Gannon using a mix of tough defense and balanced scoring as they rolled past Clarion 72-38 at Hagerty Family Events Center.

That gave Gannon a 26-2 record during the 2023-24 season, his 16th season as GU head coach. He has compiled a 350-116 record in that span.

The Golden Knights, ranked No. 5 and No. 6 in the two NCAA Division II polls, also improved to 18-1 in the PSAC West and kept their three-game lead over second-place IUP with three games left in the regular season.

 
Quick start, tough D:

Saturday's outcome was decided early because of Gannon's stifling defense. The Knights held the Golden Eagles to 1-of-14 shooting in the first period as Gannon rolled to a 20-2 lead.

Gannon led 37-13 at the half as it limited Clarion to just three first-half field goals. Gannon eventually led 55-15 in the third quarter and held a 40-point lead on three other occasions.

Gannon senior post player Sam Pirosko scored 12 or her team-high 15 points during the first half. Sophomore guard Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster) continued her fine shooting as she sank her first four field-goal attempts. That made her 10-of-10 over a two-game period after she went 6-for-6 from the field in Wednesday's victory over Slippery Rock. Claxon eventually finished with 13 points on 6-of-9 total shooting on Saturday.

 

Balanced scoring:

Seven other Gannon players scored from five to nine points as the entire roster saw significant playing time on Saturday.

Post player McKel Nation (Lebanon, Ohio/Springboro) finished with nine points and five rebounds, while fellow post Andrea Maibach (Creston, Ohio/Norwayne) had a team-high 11 rebounds to go with her five points.

Freshman Mia Slater (Canberra, Australia/Canberra Grammar School) also got into the act. The 6-foot-2 post player scored a collegiate high of eight points on 4-of-5 shooting and showed some good moves around the basket.

Trinitee Harris (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Central) and Kate Ratliff (Canal Winchester, Ohio/Canal Winchester) added six points apiece, while Ali Benim (Erie, Pa./Harbor Creek) and Carissa Dunham (Fairview, Pa./Villa Maria) each scored five.
 

Celebrate good times:

There were two celebrations of milestones for the Gannon women on Saturday. The first happened before the game when Wright presented Pirosko with a framed posted commemorating her 2,000th career point, which she scored on Feb. 7.

After the game, the players surprised Wright in the postgame interview room and celebrated his 350th win. He laughed with them and then attributed the wins to the players he has coached at Gannon.

After Cleve Wright's postgame interview, Gannon players stormed the room and congratulated him for getting win No. 350 at Gannon.
26 of those wins have come this season.
Congrats, Cleve! ?@GannonWBB? ?@GannonU? pic.twitter.com/jG9AuvgdMy

— Gannon Athletics (@GUKnights) February 17, 2024

 
What's ahead:

Gannon will look to clinch the PSAC West's No. 1 seed for the conference tournament when the Golden Knights visit rival Mercyhurst on Wednesday evening.