HTML Box Score
By Joe Mattis
ERIE, PA – The Gannon Lady Knights, getting another outstanding team performance and displaying a tough, pressure defense, defeated the Indiana (Pa.) Crimson Hawks 64-46 Saturday night in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional.
Playing on their home court, the Hammermill Center, the top-seeded Knights will face No. 7 seed California (Pa.) in a matchup of PSAC West teams for the region championship. The Vulcans knocked off Glenville State 81-79 earlier in the evening to advance to the title game.
The Knights (30-4), trailed 13-9 before running off nine straight points and for an18-13 lead with 10:34 left in the first half. They never trailed the rest of the way as they remained unbeaten in 15 home games this season.
Gannon held IUP (23-9) to 31.7 percent shooting, forced 26 turnovers, and had a 35-26 rebounding edge. The Knights also scored 27 points off turnovers.
“Our kids took away what (IUP) wanted to do,” Gannon coach Cleve Wright said. “Overall, our defense is what gets teams back on their heels. We’re in a good position right now. Our defense is certainly getting better.”
Gannon junior Jen Papich, who led a balanced scoring attack with 12 points, knows why the Knights’ defense is so effective. It’s due to hard work. “We do a good job being in a good position.”
“Offensively, we had a hard time getting into a flow,” said Indiana (Pa.) coach Jeff Dow. “Give the credit to Gannon.”
Sophomore point guard Maritra Mauthe, who scored eight points, echoed her coach’s feelings about the Gannon defense. “They definitely pressure you a lot,” she said. “It’s hard to set up an offense.”
Papich had eight rebounds to go along with her dozen points. Sophomore Nettie Blake scored 11 points, and freshman Morgan Neighbors nailed three 3-pointers for all her nine points. Those shots came with the Hawks keying on stopping sharp-shooting sophomore Brittany Batts from long range. Batts had only three shots, but she made two of them.
“Batts is a great shooter,” Neighbors said. “If they try to take that away, we have a lot of players that can step up. It feels great to know (my teammates) trust me.”
Sarah Pastorek led IUP with 15 points and seven rebounds in her last game for the Hawks. Mercyhurst Prep product Lindsay Stamp added 10, seven of which came in the first 5:33 of the game.
“Gannon is one heck of a team,” Pastorek said. “You don’t see many of them this good in the country.”
Gannon last hosted the NCAA Atlantic Regional in 2010 and advanced to the Elite Eight. They would like nothing better than to repeat the feat, but they will have to get past a Cal team that they split two games with this season. “We have a lot of respect for Cal,” Wright said. “They are a very good team and they are in the Sweet 16.”
But Wright does not expect to change anything before Monday’s game. “We will continue to prepare the way we’ve done all year long,” he said.
Papich said she believes the Knights won’t have any trouble getting up for the championship game, especially on their home court and in front of their loyal fans. “We treat every practice and every game like we wouldn’t have another,” she said.
