ORLANDO, Fla. -
Kristina Freeman’s (Yonkers, N.Y./Pelham Memorial) jumper with 52 seconds left in regulation and a defense that forced three missed jumpers in the final 33 seconds propelled the 19th-ranked Gannon women’s basketball team to a 67-66 victory over Northeastern State (Okla.) Friday morning during the opening day of the Disney Tip-Off Classic.
Northeastern State erased a six-point halftime deficit by out-scoring Gannon 22-8 in the first 7:34 of the second half. The Riverhawks went 9-of-12 from the field during the run.
Head coach Cleve Wright’s squad responded with three consecutive three-point plays. The first two came from
Brittany Tabron (Canton, Ohio/Canton Central Catholic), who scored while being fouled.
Julie Kleber’s (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) three-pointer at the 9:53 mark capped the 9-0 run and gave the Lady Knights a 49-48 lead.
The final 10 minutes featured three ties and seven lead changes. Gannon owned the largest lead during that time span with a 59-55 advantage following
Tiffany Crocker’s (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) triple with 5:31 to play.
Carrie Nolan (Girard, Pa./Girard) began a back-and-forth final four minutes, giving the Lady Knights a 63-61 lead with a jumper at the 3:40 mark. Northeastern State followed with a three-pointer, before Freeman scored on a driving lay-up to put Gannon back in front 65-64 with 2:16 showing on the clock.
Jasmine Webb’s lay-up with 1:24 remaining gave Northeastern State a 66-65 lead. With the shot clock winding down, Freeman then hit the game-winning jumper with 52 ticks left on the clock. The Riverhawks had three chances to win the game in the final 33 seconds, but misfired on all three jumpers. The first two resulted in offensive rebounds, but Tabron grabbed the final miss with five seconds left to secure the victory.
The first half featured different teams controlling three different segments. Gannon opened the contest with 10 consecutive points, before Northeastern State responded with 10 straight points of its own. A Tabron lay-up and Kleber three-pointer snapped the 10-10 tie and gave the Lady Knights a lead they would not relinquish the remainder of the first half.
The Gannon lead eventually ballooned to 30-19 with 2:57 left in the first stanza after a lay-up by Nolan and three-pointer by
Caitlyn Lowe (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg). However, Northeastern State cut the lead to 32-26 at the intermission with a 7-2 run in the final 1:48.
Tabron led the offensive unit with her 18th career double-double, posting a team-high 16 points and 10 rebounds. The senior forward was 7-of-11 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Freeman added 15 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Gannon shot 47.3 percent (26-55) from the field, 35 percent (7-20) from three-point range and 88.9 percent (8-9) from the free throw line. The Lady Knights turned the ball over 21 times, resulting in 29 Riverhawk points.
Alix Perkins and Sarah Miller came off the bench to lead Northeastern State in scoring. The duo recorded 17 and 11 points, respectively. The Riverhawks held advantages in bench scoring (41-15) and points off turnovers (29-14).
Northeastern State shot 46 percent (23-50) from the floor, 52.6 percent (10-19) from behind the arc and 83.3 percent (10-12) from the charity stripe.
Gannon improved to 1-0 while Northeastern State dropped to 0-1. The Lady Knights continue play at the Disney Tip-Off Classic Saturday, November 7 against ninth-ranked Stonehill (Mass.) at 12:15 p.m.
For a complete box score from Friday’s Gannon-Northeastern State women’s basketball game, please
click here.