Claxon
Matt Durisko
50
Fayetteville St. FSU 21-8,13-3 CIAA
60
Winner Gannon Gannon 26-6,16-4 PSAC
Fayetteville St. FSU
21-8,13-3 CIAA
50
Final
60
Gannon Gannon
26-6,16-4 PSAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Fayetteville St. FSU 6 12 15 17 50
Gannon Gannon 11 15 14 20 60

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

Golden Knights Advance to Atlantic Regional Semifinals with 60-50 Win over Fayetteville State

Strong defense, dominant effort on the glass lead the way

EDINBORO, Pa. – The Gannon women's basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Div. II Atlantic Regional on Friday afternoon with a 60-50 win over Fayetteville State in the second of four quarterfinal games at Edinboro's McComb Fieldhouse.

The contest was a rematch of last year's Atlantic Regional Championship game won by the Golden Knights 72-47. Gannon came into this year's quarterfinal game as the No. 2 seed while Fayetteville State, the CIAA champion for the second straight year, was seeded seventh.

Gannon led for virtually the entire game after taking the lead for good at 6-4 on Kate Ratliff's (Canal Winchester, Ohio/Canal Winchester) layup midway through the first quarter. A low-scoring first quarter saw the Golden Knights lead 11-6 after one period and 26-18 at the half.

The Golden Knights opened the third quarter with a 11-2 run to take their biggest lead of the game at 37-20. But they lost their momentum following a ten-minute delay for a power issue and suddenly led by just 40-33 after three quarters.

Fayetteville State pulled to within five points with the opening basket of the fourth quarter but Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster) came alive and fueled a 7-0 run with a jumper and a 3-pointer. Gannon led 47-35 two minutes into the period.

Gannon was able to build the lead back up to 16 points at 56-40 and survived a few anxious moments late to improve to 26-6 on the season. Fayetteville State saw its season come to an end at 21-8 as Gannon snapped a nine-game winning streak.

The Golden Knights will now meet No. 3 seed Seton Hill in the Atlantic Regional semifinals at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. The two teams have three teams this year with Gannon winning all three. This one is for all the marbles with the winner moving on to the Atlantic Regional Championship game on Monday night.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Gannon trailed for less than a minute the entire contest, with Fayetteville State taking its last lead at 4-3. Kate Ratliff's (Canal Winchester, Ohio/Canal Winchester) layup gave the lead back to Gannon at 6-4 and the Golden Knights led 11-6 after one period as the Broncos made just 1-of-12 shots in the opening ten minutes.

The Golden Knights continued to play strong defense and dominated the glass in the second quarter to lead 26-18 at the intermission. Gannon held a 26-12 advantage on the glass and the Broncos shot just 23.1 percent from the floor (6-of-26).

It was a tale of two quarters in the third quarter – the pre-power outage and post-power outage. Gannon used an 11-2 run to open the quarter, with Trinitee Harris (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Central) capping the run with a 3-point play and then adding a pair of free throws.

That made it 37-20 with 5:29 left in the quarter. But then a delay ensued due to the scoreboard and replay system going out. When play resumed Fayetteville State outscored Gannon the rest of the period 13-3 to pull to within 40-35 with ten minutes remaining.

Enter Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster). Gannon's junior guard heated up at just the right time. After the Broncos scored the opening basket of the quarter to make it 40-35 Gannon scored the next seven points. Claxon got things started with a jumper, then drained a three before freshman Jordan Popyk's (Novi, Mich./Novi) layup made it 47-35. The Broncos never pulled closer than ten points the rest of the way as the Golden Knights built the lead to as much as 16 points.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
The game featured two of the top defensive teams in the country, with Fayetteville State holding opponents to 53.5 ppg., good for 11th in Division II, while Gannon entered at 56.5 ppg., tops in the PSAC and 25th nationally. The Broncos were second in the country in field goal percentage defense (32.8 pct.), but they shot a respectable 44.4 percent (24-of-54) despite going 5-for-24 on 3-pointers. Gannon was second in the PSAC and tied for 15th in Division II at 35.1 pct., and the defense was true to form, limiting Fayetteville State to 25.9 percent (15-of-58). That included a 1-for-18 showing from beyond the arc.

While perfect at the line, Gannon won despite attempting just seven free throws and making all seven. The Broncos were 19-of-27 at the line. Gannon also lost the turnover battle, 23-6, and was outscored on turnovers 18-5 but. But the Golden Knights dominated the glass 49-26, limiting Fayetteville State to just eight offensive boards.

Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster) led all scorers with 17 points. The two-time first team All-PSAC West performer made 7-of-12 field goals, including 3-of-6 3-pointers. She scored nine of her 17 points in the fourth quarter.

Kate Ratliff (Canal Winchester, Ohio/Canal Winchester) added 12 points, five rebounds and three assists. Freshman Jordan Popyk (Novi, Mich./Novi) enjoyed a strong outing with eight points and nine rebounds.

The bench turned in a strong effort contributing 23 points and 22 rebounds. Trinitee Harris (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Central) had nine points, six rebounds and three assists while Mia Slater (Canberra, Australia/Canberra Grammar School) added seven points, eight boards and three blocks.
 
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