BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg women's basketball team produced a 24-7 advantage in points off turnovers and limited Gannon to 25.8 percent shooting during the second half Saturday evening to capture the 2013 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship on its home floor via a 74-57 score.
Gannon finished as the conference runner-up during its second championship game appearance during the last four years. The Lady Knights won the PSAC title in 2010. The squad now awaits word on a possible No. 1 seed for the next weekend's NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional. The NCAA Division II Selection Show is scheduled for Sunday, March 10 at 10 p.m. It can be seen live on www.ncaa.com.
A late first-half flurry by Gannon knotted the title game at 36 heading into the halftime intermission. Bloomsburg held a 34-22 lead, before the Lady Knights tied the contest with a dominating final six minutes.
Nettie Blake (Jersey City, N.J./Marist) ignited a 14-2 run during the final 5:43 with consecutive lay-ups. After
Doriyon Glass (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) and Bloomsburg's Catherine Noack exchanged hoops,
Brittany Batts (Leesburg, Va./Loudoun County) drilled back-to-back three-pointers to pull Gannon within 36-34. The second bomb came from well beyond the three-point arc on the right side. Another Blake lay-up with 16 seconds remaining capped the blitz, tying the game at 36. Gannon hit 6-of-9 shots during the run. In contrast, Bloomsburg went 1-of-9 with four turnovers during that same time span.
Both teams got defensive during the second half after a free-flowing offensive showing by both teams in the first 20 minutes.
Jen Papich (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) scored Gannon's first five points of the second half. Her three-pointer 1:20 into the stanza gave the Lady Knights a 41-39 lead.
Bloomsburg regained the lead on a pair of Lauren Ellis free throws and a Noack three-pointer. The Huskies would never trail again after that sequence, but they couldn't pull away until much later.
The home team's lead sat at 56-53 following Batts' fifth triple with 8:28 to play. Bloomsburg then out-scored Gannon 18-4 during the final 7:28 to put the PSAC championship on ice. The Huskies created seven turnovers and forced the Lady Knights into 1-of-7 shooting during the game-clinching blitz. Meanwhile, Bloomsburg converted 7-of-10 attempts, including its first four shots of the run.
Blake led Gannon's offensive attack with her sixth double-double of the season and her 10th during two seasons in a Gannon uniform with 14 points and 12 rebounds. She was unstoppable during the first half with 13 points, but had to battle through foul trouble in the second half.
Batts was just as hot on the outside. The sophomore guard led all scorers during the first half with 14 points while draining 4-of-5 three-pointers. She eventually finished with 17 points, five triples and four steals.
Gannon shot 37.9 percent (22-58) from the field, 38.9 percent (7-18) from three-point range and 42.9 percent (6-14) from the free throw line.
Ellis and Kayla Oxenrider led an extremely balanced scoring attack for Bloomsburg with 16 points each. Noack and Dana Weiller added 13 and 12 points, respectively. The Huskies starters accounted for 66 of the team's 74 points.
Bloomsburg shot 49.1 percent (26-53) from the floor, 40.9 percent (9-22) from behind the arc and 76.5 percent (13-17) from the charity stripe.
Gannon, ranked No. 7 in the
USA Today Sports Division II Coaches' Poll and No. 1 in the NCAA Division II Atlantic regional rankings, dropped to 28-4 with the championship loss. Bloomsburg improved to 24-5 overall while claiming an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
Head coach
Cleve Wright's club will anxiously watch the NCAA Division II Selection Show Sunday, March 10 with hopes of hosting next weekend's NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional. The Lady Knights are at least guaranteed to make their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last five seasons.
