ERIE, Pa. - The Gannon women’s basketball team used a dominating game on the glass for the third consecutive game and took control in the second half en route to a 65-48 victory over Millersville Monday night in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Championship. In the process, the Lady Knights captured their first-ever regional championship before a sold-out, raucous crowd at the Hammermill Center.
Gannon tied an NCAA Division II record for victories in a season, equaling Drury’s mark of 36 set in 2004. The Lady Knights also extended their NCAA Division II record for consecutive victories in a single season, winning their 36th consecutive game.
Head coach Cleve Wright’s squad won its 18th straight home game and 51st straight contest when leading at halftime. Its 36-game win streak is the fourth-longest overall streak in NCAA Division II history. Washburn (51) owns the longest win streak, while North Dakota State produced streaks of 49 and 42 games.
Gannon now heads to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight for the first time in program history. The Lady Knights will face Tusculum (Tenn.) in the NCAA Division II Quarterfinals Tuesday, March 23 at 7 p.m. Eastern time. Tusculum entered the Southeast Regional as the No. 7 seed, but rallied from a 24-6 deficit Monday night to knock off top-seeded Lander 70-63 in the Southeast Regional title game. The Gannon-Tusculum game can be heard live on 90.5 WERG and via the Internet at
http://www.gannon.edu/athletics/werg/knightsound.html. A live Webcast will also be available at
http://www.ncaa.com. More information on the NCAA Division II Elite Eight will be released in the upcoming days.
Monday’s first half was as advertised as the two squads duked it out in a defensive battle. Millersville entered the game as the nation’s second-best defensive unit, allowing 52.1 points per game. Gannon was close behind with 58.5 points allowed per game.
The low-scoring first half featured eight lead changes and three ties. Neither team had a lead larger than four points until Gannon rallied late. Millersville led 25-22 and was inbounding the ball when Ashley Moyer was whistled for an intentional foul.
Tiffany Crocker (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) drained both free throws and the Lady Knights were given the ball.
Kristina Freeman (Yonkers, N.Y./Pelham Memorial) scored on driving lay-up on the ensuing possession, giving Gannon the lead back at 26-25 with 2:09 left in the half. Following a Millersville turnover, Crocker drilled a three-pointer for a 29-25 advantage. Gannon then forced another turnover, before
Brittany Tabron (Canton, Ohio/Canton Central Catholic) scored on an offensive put-back. The score capped a 9-0 run and nearly brought the roof off the jammed-packed Hammermill Center.
Raquel Green’s free throw with 31 seconds left ended the run and sent the Marauders into the break with a 31-26 deficit.
Millersville shook off the late first-half run and immediately regained the lead with a 9-3 blitz in the first 5:03 of the second half. Mashira Newman’s three-pointer pushed the Marauders in front, 35-34.
Gannon then made its decisive run. A Crocker three-pointer ignited another 9-0 run that gave the Lady Knights a 43-35 lead with 10:50 to play. The lead moved into double digits on Freeman’s lay-up at the 9:30 mark and the visitors were unable to claw within single digits the rest of the way. In all, Gannon out-scored Millersville 31-13 over the final 14 minutes and 37 seconds.
Tabron recorded her 30th career double-double and 13th of the season with 13 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. The senior forward was named NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Most Valuable Player after recording two double-doubles and missing a third against Seton Hill by one rebound. She averaged 15.3 points and 13.7 rebounds in three games, shooting 58 percent (18-31) in the process.
Crocker was also named to the all-tournament team after scoring a game-high 20 points against Millersville. The senior point guard averaged 12 points, 3.3 rebounds and 6.7 assists in three games. She dished out 20 assists compared to only four turnovers in 99 minutes of action.
Freeman completed the double-digit trio with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Kim Vargas (Sterling, Va./Broad Run) hauled down a career-high 13 rebounds while scoring three points.
Carrie Nolan (Girard, Pa./Girard) brought her steady all-around game again with five points, four rebounds and six assists. She averaged 16.3 points, four rebounds and three assists during the regional.
Gannon’s five seniors finished an unbelievable NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional. The five averaged 66.3 points, 36 rebounds and 15.7 assists in three games. They accounted for 84 percent of the team’s scoring and 73 percent of the squad’s rebounding.
Gannon shot 37.5 percent (21-56) from the field, 31.8 percent (7-22) from three-point range and 69.6 percent (16-23) from the free throw line during Monday’s title game. The Lady Knights produced a 54-34 rebounding edge. The total included a season-high 23 offensive rebounds. It was the program’s most offensive rebounds in a game since hauling down 25 against Hillsdale on January 31, 2004. The squad out-rebounding its three regional opponents 147-85.
Moyer led the Millersville scoring attack with 12 points. Jenna Craig finished with 11 points and six rebounds, but was held scoreless in the second half.
The Marauders shot 31.1 percent (19-61) from the floor, 30 percent (6-20) from behind the arc and 44.4 percent (4-9) from the charity stripe.
Gannon remained the only undefeated team in NCAA Division II, moving to 36-0. The Lady Knights join Division I Connecticut (33-0) and Division III Amherst (31-0) as the only undefeated women’s teams in the NCAA. Millersville season came to an end with a 25-6 record.
For a complete box score from Monday’s NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Atlantic Regional Championship between Gannon and Millersville, please
click here.