INDIANA, Pa. – IUP women's basketball could not overcome an efficient first half stretch from 23rd-ranked Gannon, falling 77-61 on Saturday at the KCAC.
 
IUP (14-7, 9-7) was led by a team-high 20 points for Maria Cerro, while Teirra Preston fired with a double-double, finishing with 14 points and eight boards. Despite shooting 46.0% from the floor, IUP could not keep pace with division-leading Gannon (21-3, 13-3), which shot 60% from the game.
 
Samantha Pirosko poured in 24 points (7-11 FG) and added five boards, while Emma Wright added 20 points for the Knights. Gannon closed out the first quarter strong, pulling away for good with a key stretch in the second stanza.
 
The Knights led by 16 at the half, while IUP battled back to within 10 points around three minutes into the third. From there, Gannon used a decisive 9-0 scoring spurt to move back ahead 56-37 and did not look back.
 
Alana Cardona carried the IUP offense early, logging nine points (3-5 FG) in the opening 20 minutes. Pirosko fired in 15 points on an efficient 5-for-6 shooting in the opening half, while Boston McKinney chipped in eight over the first 20 minutes.
 
After a back and forth start, IUP jumped ahead by four at 11-7 with a jumper from Cerro. Cerro used a quick steal and score to widen the margin to four for IUP once again at 3:46 in the opening quarter. From there, the Knights closed the opening frame with a 12-2 spurt to take the lead at 24-18.
 
The Knights started the second quarter strong, posting the initial 12 points of the frame to work their advantage to double figures. Triples from McKinney and Pirosko jumpstarted the surge as Gannon eventually led 36-18 at the 6:16 mark of the second.
 
A hook shot from Madison Demski and driving bucket from McKinney worked the advantage to 17 each time with around three minutes left in the opening half. The Hawks went cold on the offensive end, only able to slice the deficit to 40-24 at the intermission.
 
Baskets from Kiera Baughman, Preston and Cerro sliced the IUP deficit to 44-34 with 7:26 left in the third before the Knights stepped on the gas to pull away. Using efficient offense and a smothering defensive approach, Gannon eventually ballooned its advantage to 20 points on the second of two free throws at the 1:08 mark.
 
The Hawks got back to as little as 13 twice in the fourth, but Gannon slowed the pace and melted away the clock over the final 10 minutes. Bri Claxon, who had a stellar outing off the bench in the opening meeting between the two sides, finished with eight points.
 
Gina Adams registered eight points on the night for the Hawks, using some slick drives to the hoop throughout the contest.
 
Up Next
IUP has a quick turnaround, heading to Erie for a matchup at Mercyhurst on Monday, February 6 at 5:30 p.m.
 
Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_WBB.

 

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