New/Sortable Box Score |
Traditional Box Score
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Seventh-ranked Gannon University ran out to a 20-point halftime lead and held off Slippery Rock University in the second half to score a 82-64 win in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action Wednesday night at Morrow Field House.
Slippery Rock (4-14, 3-11 PSAC) managed to outscore division-leading Gannon (19-2, 13-1 PSAC) 35-33 in the second half but could not overcome the 49-29 halftime deficit.
The Rock jumped out to a 5-0 lead before Gannon answered with an 8-0 run to take control of the game. That run began a 16-2 run that put the Lady Knights up 16-7 with 12:40 to play in the opening period. The Rock cut that margin to two points at 16-14 with 10:34 to play before Gannon put together a 14-2 run to make it 30-16 with 7:08 left in the half.
Slippery Rock could never recover from that deficit as the visitors pushed it out to a 22-point advantage before settling for the 49-29 halftime lead.
The 3-point shot proved to be the difference in the first half as Gannon knocked down 10-of-18 attempts from long range, while Slippery Rock was just 2-of-13. The Lady Knights finished the game 14-of-32 from beyond the arc. Slippery Rock made 10-of-31 from long range as the teams combined for 24 made 3-pointers.
Gannon pushed its lead up to a game-high 30 points early in the second half before Slippery Rock began to slowly eat away at the margin, cutting it to 14 points at 75-61 with 3:41 to play, but The Rock would get no closer.
Erinne Cunningham and
Megan Hardiman combined for 39 points to lead Slippery Rock, with Cunningham netting 20 points, including five 3-pointers, and Hardiman scoring a career-high 19 points, including three 3-pointers.
D'Asia Chambers added 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds to cap the top performers for The Rock.
Slippery Rock finished the game shooting 40 percent from the field (24-of-60), 32.3 percent from beyond the 3-point line (10-of-31) and 66.7 percent at the free throw line (6-of-9).
Gannon was led by the hot shooting of Brittany Batts, who leads the PSAC in made 3-pointers. She knocked down 6-of-12 attempts from long range for 18 points. Morgan Neighbors added 15 points, hitting 5-of-9 from downtown and Jen Papich provided an inside presence with 14 points and six rebounds.
The Golden Knights finished the game shooting 37 percent from the field (27-of-73), 43.8 percent from long range (14-of-32), 73.7 percent at the free throw line (14-of-19) and posted a 49-39 advantage in total rebounds.
Wednesday's game was the second to last game of the first round of divisional play for both teams. Slippery Rock will close the opening round of PSAC West games Saturday with a 5:30 p.m. tip at Indiana (Pa.).
