SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University women's basketball team established a six-point halftime lead Sunday against perennial PSAC West front-runner Gannon but could not stave off a second-half rally by the Golden Knights, dropping a 68-57 decision in a league-mandated crossover from Heiges Field House.
Shippensburg (7-7, 3-5 PSAC) opened the game on a 10-0 run and led at the break, 29-23, as it held Gannon (8-4, 7-2) to 28-percent shooting in the first half. Three minutes into the second half, the Golden Knights broke off a 17-2 run over a 6:16 stretch – transforming a nine-point deficit into a six-point lead. SU was 0-for-8 from the field during that decisive stretch.
The Raiders battled back, getting consecutive layups from junior
Stephanie Knauer to get within two points of the lead at the 7:53 mark. SU was unable to get any closer, however, as the Golden Knights clinched the win by making 10-of-12 free throws in the final 90 seconds.
Shippensburg received a spirited effort from sophomore
Logan Snyder, who tied her career high with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Sophomore point guard
Lauren Gold chipped in 16 points, her second-highest output of the season, while Knauer had 11 points and six rebounds.
Sophomore
Morgan Griffith had six points and a team-high nine rebounds; fellow sophomore
Colleen Young provided three points and six rebounds.
The Raiders improved at the free-throw line in Sunday's game, making its first 15 attempts and finishing 18-of-22 overall to match a season-best game rate of 81.8 percent. Gold was 7-of-7 at the line, while Snyder made 5-of-6 attempts.
Three-point shooting was not in the cards for either team. SU was 1-of-12 (8.3 percent) from distance, while Gannon was 3-of-19 (15.8 percent). The four combined three-pointers match the fewest by two teams in an SU game this season (SU 4-of-18, Bowie State 0-of-10 on Nov. 15).
The Golden Knights got game highs of 17 points and 12 rebounds from Nettie Blake, who had five of her team's 16 offensive rebounds. Gannon's bench also outscored Shippensburg's reserves, 21-4, and had a 17-5 advantage in second-chance points.
Shippensburg will conclude the PSAC Western Division "crossover" portion of its schedule at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday when it travels to Clarion to face the Golden Eagles.
