Gannon University
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Mercyhurst Recap
Sports
Information Department, Dan Teliski, Director
Phone: (814) 871-7418
Date: February 23, 2008
GANNON EARNS GLIAC QUARTERFINAL
HOME GAME WITH WIN OVER 'HURST
KNIGHTS HOST ASHLAND MARCH 1 IN QUARTERFINALS AT 5:30 PM
ERIE, Pa. - The Gannon women’s basketball team was literally behind
the eight ball two weeks ago after suffering back-to-back home losses to
Hillsdale and Wayne State. What a difference two weeks make.
Gannon won its third consecutive Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
(GLIAC) game Saturday night with a convincing 95-66 victory over rival Mercyhurst
in the regular-season finale at the Hammermill Center. As a result, the Lady
Knights overtook Wayne State on the final day of the regular season and finished
tied for second place in the South Division with Ashland. However, Gannon
earned the No. 2 seed and the quarterfinal home game that accompanies it
based on the Lady Knights’ season sweep of the Eagles.
The Gannon-Ashland quarterfinal contest is scheduled for Saturday, March
1 at the Hammermill Center. The game is the first of a post-season doubleheader
and is slated for 5:30 p.m. The game can be heard live on 90.5 WERG and via
the Internet at http://www.gannon.edu/sports/werg/knightsound.ihtml.
With Wayne State losing to Hillsdale earlier in the day, Gannon knew it could
host a quarterfinal game with a victory and wasted little time putting any
doubt to rest. Playing arguably its best first half of the season, the Lady
Knights scored the first points on Allison Rothlisberger’s (New Martinsville,
W.Va./Magnolia) lay-up five seconds into the contest and kept the pedal
to the metal for the next 40 minutes.
Gannon opened the game with a 14-2 run in the first four minutes and 30 seconds.
Ashley Lowdermilk (Kensington, Ohio/Carrollton), who was playing in
the final regular-season home game of her career, nailed two three-pointers
during the run.
Gannon then used a 19-5 run later in the first half to open a commanding
43-17 lead with 3:56 remaining until the break. Mercyhurst did manage to
cut the deficit to 18 points at halftime and 15 points early in the second
half, but the Lady Knights used another big run midway through the final
20 minutes to put the game on ice. Julie Kleber’s (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern)
free throws with 25 seconds to play gave Gannon’s its biggest lead at 95-64.
Brittany Tabron (Canton, Ohio/Canton Central Catholic) led Gannon
with her seventh double-double of the season, posting 21 points and 12 rebounds
off the bench. Lowdermilk and Kristina Freeman (Yonkers, N.Y./Yonkers)
added 19 points. Kleber netted 13 markers off the bench.
Lowdermilk moved into a tie for third place all-time at Gannon with her 182nd
career three-pointer. The senior guard also moved into 11th place all-time
in scoring with 1,171 career points. She needs 15 points to move into Gannon’s
all-time top 10.
Gannon shot 47.1 percent (33-70) from the field, including a 50 percent (17-34)
chart in the first half. The Lady Knights shot 45.5 percent (10-22) from
three-point range and 76 percent (19-25) from the free throw line.
Samantha Loadman was the only Laker in double digits with 21 points off the
bench. Mercyhurst shot 40.4 percent (23-57) from the field, 28.6 percent
(8-28) from behind the arc and 70.6 percent (12-17) from the charity stripe.
Gannon concluded the regular season with a 16-11 overall record and 10-7
GLIAC record. Mercyhurst fell to 7-20 overall and 2-15 in conference play.
The Lady Knights will be participating in their 11th consecutive GLIAC Tournament.
It’s the second-longest streak in GLIAC history, behind only Michigan Tech.
The Huskies have qualified for the post-season every year since the GLIAC
began its playoff tournament in 1990-91.
Gannon opens the 2008 GLIAC Tournament Saturday, March 1 against Ashland
at the Hammermill Center. The GLIAC Quarterfinal is slated for 5:30 p.m.
The contest can be heard live on 90.5 WERG and via the Internet at http://www.gannon.edu/sports/werg/knightsound.ihtml.
A complete box score from Saturday’s Gannon-Mercyhurst women’s basketball
game can be found at http://www.gannon.edu/sports/women/BASKETBA/STATS.HTM/GAME27.HTM.
Gannon University~University Square ~ Erie, PA 16541-0001
Toll Free: 1-800-GANNON-U
Sports
Press Box E-mail
updated 2/23/08 by: drt
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