Box Score

ERIE, PA – Gannon used runs of 13-2 and 14-1 in the first half en route to a 19-point halftime lead as 17th-ranked IUP lost to the 20th-ranked Golden Knights 71-40 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division women's basketball matchup on Wednesday night at the Hammermill Center in Erie.

In addition to being a matchup of top 20 teams, the contest was also a battle for second place in the PSAC West as both teams came in with identical 12-2 records.

After the Golden Knights (16-3, 13-2) took an early 4-0 lead, Sarah Pastorek (Johnstown/Bishop McCort) tied the game for IUP with a pair of layups followed by a layup off a missed three-pointer by Arika Ullman (Baltimore, MD/Seton Keough). Gannon again took a four-point lead with two-point buckets by Jen Papich and Caitlyn Lowe before Ashley Stoner (Pittsburgh, Pa. /Thomas Jefferson)'s jumper in the paint made it 8-6 at the 13:05 mark of the first half.

The Golden Knights then went on their first run of the game, outscoring IUP 13-2 over a span of 4:33 to take a 21-8 lead with 7:27 left in the half. The Crimson Hawks would cut their deficit to 10 at 23-13 on a three-pointer by Marita Mathe (Indiana, Pa. /Indiana), but three straight treys by the Golden Knights on consecutive possessions gave Gannon a 32-13 advantage with just over four minutes remaining. Gannon would lead by as many as 23 in the first half but the Crimson Hawks attempted to gain momentum heading into the break with a three by Leslie Stapleton (Indiana, Pa. /Indiana) a few seconds before the buzzer, as IUP trailed 37-19.

Unfortunately for the Crimson Hawks, Gannon wouldn't let them get anything going in the second half, as the closest IUP would get was 17 at 41-24 after a pair of free throws by Stoner with 16:32 remaining.

The Crimson Hawks lost the turnover battle 20-11, shooting just 31.8 percent (14-for-44) from the floor and 42.9 percent (9-for-21) from the foul line.

Lowe scored a game-high 18 points for Gannon, hitting four of the Golden Knights 10 three-pointers. Papich added 16 points for the Golden Knights.

Pastorek was the only Crimson Hawk to reach double-figures in scoring with 10 points, going 4-of-6 from the foul line and grabbing seven boards.

Getting her first start of the season in place of Talen Watson (Odenton, MD/Arundel), Mathe scored eight points in a season-high 32 minutes, turning it over just twice. Lisa Burton (Pittsburgh, Pa. /Penn Hills) came off the bench to score nine points on 4-of-5 shooting, grabbing four offensive rebounds in 17 minutes. Stapleton added seven points and Stoner had six rebounds.

The Crimson Hawks (16-3, 12-3) return to the court this Saturday when they start the second half of their PSAC West schedule at home against Clarion. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.