The Gannon University women’s basketball team made it into the win column on Nov. 20, beating Cheyney, 67-57, on the road, but the Knights followed that up with two more losses.
As a result, Gannon will take an overall record of 1-6 and a 1-1 mark in PSAC play into this weekend’s conference matchups at home against Lock Haven Saturday and Bloomsburg Sunday.
Both games will tip off at 1 p.m. at the Hammermill Center.
Maggie Mitchell led the way for the Knights in the win over Cheyney, as she scored 24 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists.
Kelsey Herbert added 11 points and six rebounds while Lanise Saunders contributed 10 points and nine rebounds.
Gannon trailed by seven after one quarter and was down by a point at halftime. Cheyney continued to hold the edge, leading 48-44 heading into the final quarter, but the Knights went on a 23-9 run to notch their first victory of the season.
Mitchell sparked the rally with a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 10 in the quarter while Herbert contributed five, including the go-ahead basket with 2 minutes, 23 seconds to play.
On Sunday, the Knights fell 56-47 to Findlay, as the host team used a big third quarter to take control. Gannon, paced by Mitchell’s 13 points and 10 from Saunders, led 24-22 at halftime but Findlay outscored the Knights 17-6 in the third quarter.
Lynsey Englebrecht led Findlay with 13 points and former Knight Elissa Ellerbrock contributed six points and eight rebounds in the win.
Gannon pulled to within four points at 47-43 with a little over three minutes to play in the game, but Findlay scored five straight to put the game away.
Nicole Lacava added seven points and six rebounds for Gannon.
On Wednesday, the Knights absorbed a 97-44 beating at the hands of third-ranked Ashland, as the visitors bolted to a 28-9 first-quarter lead and never were threatened. Gannon, led by Mitchell’s 15 points, shot just 26 percent from the floor and committed 28 turnovers.
Gannon’s PSAC opener was a close one, but the Knights fell 65-59 to West Chester on Nov. 16. The host Rams used an 18-6 third-quarter edge to open up a 49-41 lead, but Gannon cut the margin to 51-48 when Chelsea Rourke hit two free throws with 7:56 remaining in the game.
Mitchell tied the game at 59-59 with 1:34 to play, but Madison Torresin of West Chester scored after a timeout and the Rams added four late free throws to put the game away.
Mitchell led the Knights with 23 points while Marissa Siebka and Saunders each added 10 points. Saunders pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds while Herbert added 12 rebounds – also a career-best – to go with six points in 15 minutes of action.
Mitchell scored a season-high 30 points in a 66-53 loss to Shepherd on Nov. 16. Gannon was hurt by turnovers once again, as the Knights committed 23 errors to 11 for Shepherd.
Saunders had eight points and nine rebounds in the loss. Gannon played the visitors even through the first half and trailed by just three at 46-43 going into the final 10 minutes.
But Shepherd used a 16-3 spurt at the start of the fourth quarter to go up 62-46, and Gannon could not recover.
STEVEN PITCAIRN
[email protected]
