Ratliff vs. Seton Hill
Matt Durisko
70
Seton Hill SHU 24-7,16-4 PSAC
80
Winner Gannon Gannon 27-6,16-4 PSAC
Seton Hill SHU
24-7,16-4 PSAC
70
Final
80
Gannon Gannon
27-6,16-4 PSAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Seton Hill SHU 16 18 16 20 70
Gannon Gannon 16 15 20 29 80

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

Golden Knights Rally in Third Quarter, Pull Away in Fourth for 80-70 Win over Seton Hill

Gannon beats Griffins for fourth time

EDINBORO, Pa. – They say it isn't easy beating a team three times. Beating one four times – highly unlikely. But don't tell that to Cleve Wright's Gannon Golden Knights. They squared off against PSAC West rival Seton Hill in the Atlantic Regional semifinals on Saturday night at Edinboro's McComb Fieldhouse. After trailing by nine points in the third quarter the Golden Knights, the No. 2 seed in the regional, came roaring back to hand No. 3 Seton Hill an 80-70 defeat.

While improving to 27-6 Gannon moves on to face Indiana (Pa.) in the Atlantic Regional Championship game at 7:00 p.m. at Edinboro. The No. 4 seed Crimson Hawks upset top-seeded Edinboro in Saturday's other semifinal contest, 67-52. The Golden Knights are looking for a second straight Atlantic Regional championship.

Gannon won this year's two regular season meetings with the Grffins in high-scoring affairs, 89-75 and 89-71. The third meeting was a defensive battle in the PSAC Quarterfinals, with Gannon edging the Griffins 62-60.

The fourth meeting had a little bit of both. The first half featured the defenses with Seton Hill leading 34-33 at the intermission. The game opened up in the second half, but it was to Gannon's liking as the Golden Knights outscored Seton Hill 20-16 in the third quarter and 29-20 in the fourth.

Seton Hill appeared to have Gannon on the ropes in the third quarter. Up until that point neither team had led by more than five points and there had been five ties and six lead changes. The Griffins opened up a nine-point advantage at 47-38 midway through the period.

Gannon outscored Seton Hill 13-3 the rest of the quarter to take a 51-50 lead with ten minutes left to play. Carissa Dunham's (Fairview, Pa./Villa Maria) 3-pointer tied the game at 50-50 in the final minute and Mia Slater (Canberra, Australia/Canberra Grammar School) made one-of-two free throws with six seconds remaining to give Gannon the lead for good.

Kate Ratliff (Canal Winchester, Ohio/Canal Winchester) and Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster) took over in the fourth quarter, as each player scored ten points in the period.  For good measure Dunham drained a three to give Gannon a nine-point advantage at 67-58 with just over three minutes left.

Gannon's defense held Seton Hill without a basket for over a six minute stretch from the third quarter into the fourth. Halle Cowan, who put on a shooting display while finishing with 29 points, made a 3-pointer with 2:38 left in the third quarter. Seton Hill's next basket was another Cowan three – with 6:22 remaining in the game.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The two teams battled on even terms in a low-scoring affair over the first 20 minutes. Seton Hill held a slim 34-33 lead. The first half featured five ties and six lead changes with Gannon's largest lead five points and Seton Hills three on five occasions.

Seton Hill used a 9-2 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 47-38 with 5:30 remaining. The rest of the quarter belonged to Gannon, as the Golden Knights outscored the Griffins 13-3 for a 51-50 lead after three quarters. That included the final eight points of the quarter.

Gannon started pulling away in the fourth quarter as Kate Ratliff (Canal Winchester, Ohio/Canal Winchester) and Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster) each scored 10 points. The Golden Knights still led by just four at 62-58 when Ratliff drove for a basket and Careissa Dunham followed with a 3-pointer for a 67-58 lead with 3:21 remaining.

Seton Hill closed to six points at 71-65 but Claxon answered with a three. The junior guard provided the dagger when she drained a long three from the right wing with the shot clock winding down for 79-70 advantage with 17 seconds left.

BY THE NUMBERS
Gannon won despite Seton Hill shooting 51.9 percent from the floor compared to 42.0 percent for Gannon, but the Golden Knights took 69 shots, making 29, while Seton Hill attempted just 52, making 27. Both teams made seven 3-pointers while Gannon was 15-of-22 at the line and Seton Hill 9-of-16.

The big differences in the game – rebounding and turnovers. The Golden Knights outrebounded Seton Hill 41-30, limiting the Griffins to just six offensive rebounds while hustling their way to 19 offensive boards. In addition, with junior point guard Tori Mayes (Lake City, Pa./Cathedral Prep) running the show and not committing one turnover Gannon had just 10 miscues compared to 18 for Seton Hill.

Kate Ratliff (Canal Winchester, Ohio/Canal Winchester) led Gannon with 21 points. The sophomore guard made 8-of-16 field goals, including a 3-pointer, and was 4-of-8 at the line. She added a team-high nine rebounds and had two steals.

Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster), who exited the quarterfinal win late with an injury, showed no ill effects as the junior guard scored 18 points, with two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and 6-fo-6 overall at the line. She had three assists and two steals.

Maddy Wheatley (Canberra, Australia/UCSSC Lake Ginninderra) battled her way to nine points, seven rebounds and three assists.

For the second game in a row the bench played a huge role as the four subs contributed 29 points and 14 rebounds. Carissa Durham had 10 points, with two 3's, and four assists. Andrea Maibach (Creston, Ohio/Norwayne) finished with seven points and five rebounds while Trinitee Harris (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Central) also scored seven points.

Seton Hill's Halle Cowan led all scorers with 29 points, making 6-of-10 3-pointers.  
 
Print Friendly Version