General | 3/6/2026 4:00:00 PM

No. 3W SETON HILL GRIFFINS (21-7, 15-5 PSAC West) at No. 1W GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS (27-3, 18-2 PSAC West)
PSAC SEMIFINAL
DATE/TIME: Saturday, March 6, 2026 | 2:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Highmark Events Center l Erie, Pa.'

Saturday, March 7 -- Semifinals (hosted by Gannon)
No. 4W Edinboro (19-12, 14-6 West) vs. Indiana (Pa.) (24-3, 17-3 PSAC West) – 12 noon
No. 3W Seton Hill (21-7, 15-5 West) vs. Gannon (27-3, 18-2 West) – 2:30 p.m.

 GANNON IN THE PSAC TOURNAMENT
Gannon is making its 15th appearance in the PSAC Tournament since joining the conference in 2008-09. The Golden Knights won their first PSAC championship in 2009-10 and now are in search of their fourth conference title in the last six years after winning in 2019-20, 2021-22, and 2023-24. Gannon finished as the runner-up in 2012-13, 2013-14, and 2022-23.

THE GANNON-SETON HILL SERIES
Gannon leads 22-8
Gannon swept the regular season series with Seton Hill for the third straight year with a surprising 83-57 win at the Highmark Events Center and an 81-70 triumph in Greensburg. The Golden Knights have won nine of the last ten meetings with the Griffins. That includes a 60-52 win in last year's PSAC Quarterfinals and an 80-70 victory in the Atlantic Regional semifinals to make it four wins over the Griffins in 2024-25. The Golden Knights have won seven of the last eight meetings.

This Year's Meetings:  
Jan. 14, 2026 – at Gannon 83, Seton Hill 57   
Feb. 14, 2026 – Gannon 81, at Seton Hill 70  


ERIE, Pa. – The odds were against the Gannon women's basketball team but a change in the PSAC Tournament format left the Golden Knights with a chance to host the 2026 PSAC Tournament.
 
First head coach Cleve Wright's squad had to defeat a stubborn Bloomsburg squad. The Huskies hung with the Golden Knights until early in the fourth quarter when Gannon took control and finally subdued Bloomsburg 66-56.
 
Not long after Gannon's 27th win of the season, their local  rivals, Edinboro, completed an upset of Eastern Division top seed Lock Haven. Coupled with wins for Indiana (Pa.) and Seton Hill in the other quarterfinals, all of the PSAC East teams were eliminated. That left Gannon, the top seed in the Western Division, as the host of the 2026 PSAC Final Four.
 
With Gannon's men's team defeating East Stroudsburg in its quarterfinal game it means a busy day of basketball at the Highmark Events Center on Saturday, March 7. In a first for the PSAC Gannon will be hosting both of the conference's championships.
 
Gannon enters the PSAC Final Four with a 27-3 record after finishing at 18-2 in league play. Earlier this week the Golden Knights leapfrogged IUP into fifth place in the national rankings with the Crimson Hawks now tenth. More importantly, Gannon moved into the top spot in the Atlantic Region poll. IUP is second, with Seton Hill fourth and Edinboro ninth.
 
The Golden Knights have now won 20-or-more games six straight seasons in their pursuit of a third straight trip to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. Gannon is making its sixth straight trip to the PSAC semifinals. The 27 wins are seventh in a season.  

Seton Hill improved to 21-7 on Wednesday with a dominating 79-54 win at No. 2E Kutztown. Gannon won both meetings with the Griffins this year, winning 83-57 at the Highmark Events Center in mid-January and 81-70 in Greensburg, Pa. a month later.
 
The winner of Sunday's PSAC Championship game will receive the conference's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Division II Tournament. The entire field will be announced late Sunday night.

The Knight Watch

• Gannon advanced to the PSAC Semifinals for the sixth straight year on Wednesday, surviving a strong challenge from No. 4E Bloomsburg to prevail 66-56 in the quarterfinals. Now riding a six-game winning streak, Gannon improved to 27-3 after finishing at 18-2 in the PSAC West to win the divisional regular season title for the third time in the last four years. Oddly enough, all three of Gannon's losses have come on their homecourt. Thanks to a 71-62 win at Indiana (Pa.) last Saturday Gannon leapfrogged the Crimson Hawks in the Atlantic Regional poll and are number one. In addition, they moved up a spot to fifth in the latest WBCA Division II Top 25.  
• Gannon seeks its fourth PSAC championship in the last six seasons and fifth overall (2010, 2020, 2022, 2024). In addition, the Golden Knights are in search of a third straight trip to the Elite Eight after winning the Atlantic Regional the last two years.
• Head coach Cleve Wright has now led the Golden Knights to six straight 20-win seasons (not counting the shortened 2020-21 COVID season). Wright is completing his 18th season at the helm of the Golden Knights and 21st overall as a head coach. He went over 400 wins at Gannon earlier this season and now has a 414-132 record at Gannon and 449-219 overall.
• They climbed two spots to fifth in the WBCA Div. II Top 25. Gannon was first in last week's NCAA's Atlantic Region rankings.
• Defense has always been Gannon's calling card under Wright, and this year is certainly no exception. Gannon is allowing 52.2 ppg. and holding opponents to 33.0 percent shooting. Gannon leads the PSAC and ranks eighth in Division II in scoring defense, along with first and fifth, respectively, in field goal percentage defense. The Golden Knights have held eight opponents to fewer than 50 points and 20 to less than 60 points.
• For just the third time in team history Gannon has three 1,000-point scorers on the same team. Senior guard Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster) has climbed to fifth in career scoring with 1,759 points. Junior Kate Ratliff (Canal Winchester, Ohio/Canal Winchester) topped the 1,000-point mark recently and now has 1,030 career points, while Maddy Wheatley (Canberra, Australia/UCSSC Lake Ginninderra) eclipsed 1,000 points in Saturday's win at IUP and now has 1,008 career points. A redshirt senior, Wheatley enjoyed one of her top efforts with 18 points. The other two teams with three-or-more 1,000-career scorers in the same year are: 2009-10 – four (Kristina Freeman, Carrie Nolan, Brittany Tabron, Kim Vargas) and 2014-15 – three (Nettie Blake, Brittany Batts, Mollie Sebald).
• Jordan Popyk (Novi, Mich./Novi) and Mia Slater (Canberra, Australia/Canberra Grammar School) form a solid one-two punch in the post. Popyk, a 6-foor-2 sophomore, averages 9.5 ppg. and 4.8 rpg. while 6-foot-2 junior Slater contributes 8.9 ppg. and 5.3 rpg. Both are shooting over 50 percent from the floor. Wheatley adds a team-high 6.0 ppg.
• When Wheatley takes the floor on Saturday she will set the career record for games played at Gannon. Wheatley will play in her 144th game, breaking the mark previously set by Sam Pirosko.
• Wright has done a masterful job navigating injuries in the backcourt. Underrated junior point guard Tori Mayes (Lake City, Pa./Cathedral Prep) doesn't score much (2.3 ppg.) but has 69 assists and 44 steals. 

Scouting Seton Hill
Record:  21-7, 15-5 PSAC West
Head Coach: Maeve Gallagher (3rd year)
Top Players: Hallie Cowan (G, 5-9, Sr., 18.4 ppg., 4.4 rpg., 60 asts., 40 stls., 80-248 3's); Helene Cowan (G, 5-9, Sr., 17.0 ppg., 47-of-155 3's, 132-of-149 FTs, 85 asts., 45 stls.); Mia Kalich (F, 5-11, Jr., 14.0 ppg., 11.9 rpg., 65.6 FG%, 109 asts., 115 stls.); Hailee Ford (G/F, 5-10, Jr., 12.9 ppg., 6.7 rpg., 65 asts.34-of-124 3's, 69 asts., 44 stls.); Abby Mankins (G/F, 5-10, Sr., 6.2 ppg., 5.0 rpg.)

• Seton Hill advanced to the PSAC Semifinals for the first time since joining the conference in 2013-14 with a dominating 79-54 win at No. 2E Kutztown. The Griffins exploded out to a 21-2 advantage and coasted to their fifth straight win. Helene Cowan led the way with 24 points while Mia Kalich (19 points, 13 rebounds) and Hailee Ford (15 points, 10 rebounds) had double doubles.
• The Griffins are once again the top offensive team in the PSAC, averaging 84.5 ppg. They feature four players in double figures led by the Cowan twins. In fact both Hailee and Helene Cowan were accorded All-PSAC West first team honors for the second time. In addition, Mia Kalich not only earned first team honors but was named the PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Year for the second straight season.
• Both Cowans are 1,000-point scorers, with Hallie showing 1,634 points and Helene 1,563. Kalich is fast approaching the milestone with 957 career points. 

THREE GOLDEN KNIGHTS EARN ALL-PSAC WEST ACCOLADES
Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster) leads a list of three Gannon players named to the All-PSAC West teams on Friday. A senior guard, Claxon is now a three-time All-PSAC West selection and was the 2023 PSAC West Freshman of the Year. She joins Sam Pirosko (four times) and Jen Papich (three times) as the only Golden Knights to earn first-team All-PSAC honors three or more times. Junior guard Kate Ratliff (Canal Winchester, Ohio/Canal Winchester), meanwhile, is now a two-time honoree, earning second-team honors for the second straight season. Ratliff was joined on the second team by junior post player Mia Slater (Canberra, Australia/Canberra Grammar School).             
     

GANNON ALL-TIME RESULTS IN PSAC TOURNAMENT
2008-09
March 3 -- INDIANA(PA) – L, 60-64
2009-10 – PSAC Champions
March 2 – EDINBORO – W, 81-67
March 5 -- KUTZTOWN – W, 81-65
March 6 -- CALIFORNIA (PA) – W, 77-68
2011-12
Feb. 28 -- INDIANA(PA) -- L, 68-71 ot
2012-13
March 5 -- CALIFORNIA(PA) – W, 77-50
March 8 -- vs. Millersville -- W, 63-62
March 9 -- at Bloomsburg -- L, 57-74
2013-14
March 4 -- CALIFORNIA(Pa.) – W, 62-57
March 8 -- vs. Bloomsburg – W, 57-51
March 9 -- at Edinboro -- L, 76-86
2014-15
Feb. 28 -- SLIPPERY ROCK – W, 66-48
March 3 -- at California(Pa.) -- L, 53-66
2015-16
Feb. 27 -- SETON HILL – W, 64-58
March 1 -- at Indiana(Pa.) L, 70-75
2017-18
Feb. 26 -- at Seton Hill – L, 65-78
2018-19
March 4 -- at Edinboro – W, 71-67
March 6 -- at California(Pa.) – L, 68-80
2019-20 – PSAC Champions
March 4 – EDINBORO – W, 67-53
March 7 -- vs. Shippensburg – W, 74-58
March 8 -- at Indiana – W, 50-40
2021-22 -- PSAC Champions
March 2 – PITT-JOHNSTOWN – W, 70-44
March 5 – at Kutztown – W, 55-47
March 6 – vs. California (Pa.) – W, 59-47
2022-23
March 1 – PITT-JOHNSTOWN – W, 71-67
March 4 -- SHIPPENSBURG -- W, 82-73
March 5 -- CALIFORNIA (PA) -- 75-63
2023-24 – PSAC CHAMPIONS
March 6 – EDINBORO – W, 70-42
March 9 – vs. West Chester – W. 79-73
March 10 – at Lock Haven – W, 80-65
2024-25
March 5 – SETON HILL – W, 60-52
March 8 – vs. Kutztown – L, 58-64
2025-26
March 4 – BLOOMSBURG – W, 66-56
(NOTE: There was no PSAC Tournament in 2021 due to coronavirus pandemic)