The Gannon University women´s basketball team lost its last nonconference game Nov. 28 against Daemen College at the Hammermill Center before splitting the first two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference games on the road against Bloomsburg and Mansfield over the weekend.
As a result, the Knights will bring an overall record of 5-4 and a 1-1 mark in conference play into Saturday’s 1 p.m. PSAC matchup with Lock Haven at the Hammermill Center.
In Sunday’s 77-62 win over Mansfield, the Knights trailed 36-30 at halftime but turned things around in the third quarter, as 3-pointers from Chelsea Rourke and Boston McKinney keyed a 12-0 run that ended the quarter.
In Saturday’s 56-41 loss to Bloomsburg, Gannon’s offense ran into major problems in the second and fourth quarters as the team managed just seven and six points, respectively.
The Knights started their week with a 58-52 loss to Daemen as a pair of late 3-pointers from Daemen´s Jordan Heinold and Autumn Buchsenschutz highlighted an 11-0 run to close the game.
Sunday´s first conference victory against Mansfield started with Nicole LaCava´s eight quick points in the first four minutes of the opening quarter, but after she picked up her second foul at the 5:40 mark, she wasn’t much of a factor the rest of the half.
Elise Torrence helped pick up the slack, though, as she scored 10 first-half points for the Knights, including eight in the second quarter to help the Knights turn a 19-17 first-quarter deficit into a 40-36 halftime lead.
Gannon continued to play well offensively in the third quarter, as a late burst of long-range shooting by Rourke and McKinney helped Gannon take an 11-point lead, 58-47, at the end of the third. The Knights ended the quarter on a 12-0 scoring run.
Rourke and McKinney continued their strong play in the fourth quarter, combining for the first three baskets, all coming behind the arc, for a 20-point edge. Gannon’s lead would remain at least 15 the rest of the way.
LaCava finished with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting to lead the way as Gannon had four players scoring in double digits. Torrence and McKinney each finished with 14 points and Rourke contributed 13 as the Knights shot 47 percent from the floor, including 9-of-20 from long distance.
In Saturday’s loss to Bloomsburg, Gannon shot just 34 percent from the floor and did not make a single 3-pointer in 15 attempts. Bloomsburg, meanwhile, connected on 6-of-10 3-point attempts in the 15-point decision.
LaCava led all scorers with 17 points, but no one else had more than five for Gannon.
In the loss to Daemen, LaCava’s 13 points set the pace, with Tori Obenrader contributing 11 to go with a team-high 10 rebounds.
Obenrader was named the PSAC West freshman of the week for the second time after totaling 19 points, 22 rebounds, four assists and three steals in the Knights’ three games last week.
CRISTINA DEL DIEGO
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