INDIANA, Pa. – The IUP women's basketball team held No. 2/3 Gannon to 20 points under its season average, locking down on the defensive end for a 53-52 victory on Saturday afternoon at the KCAC.
IUP (16-5, 12-4) forced 21 turnovers on the night and held Gannon (24-2, 16-1) scoreless over the last 2:59 of the contest. This particular defensive effort featured several stops late for the Crimson Hawks, including two with under 10 seconds remaining.
IUP needed all those defensive plays down the stretch, as
Maria Cerro's foul shot with 1:29 remaining proved to be the final point for either side. The go-ahead foul shot helped IUP snap Gannon's 21-game winning streak that dated back to November 10.
Cerro posted 15 points (5-7 FG), four assists and two steals for IUP.
Nyshae' Weaver recorded a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds in 36 minutes. GU shot 33.9% from the floor and converted just three times from beyond the arc. A tightly contested defensive battle throughout, the matchup featured 10 ties and 12 lead changes.
Sam Pirosko, the league's leading scorer, finished with a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds. She was the lone Gannon scorer in double figures as two of the league's top defenses traded blows throughout.
The Hawks used a timely 12-2 spurt near the end of the third quarter that kept them within striking distance. Neither side led by more than one possession for the entirety of the fourth quarter as IUP snapped a three-game slide in the head-to-head series with the Golden Knights. The win solidified the Crimson Hawks second-place positioning in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western division.
IUP kept pace with Gannon throughout the first half, limiting the Knights to 32.1% shooting from the floor and forcing 11 turnovers. The Hawks found themselves down by about four points most of the first quarter, but continued chipping away with defensive stops into the second quarter.
A pair of consecutive steals and transition buckets pushed the Hawks ahead 18-17 early in the second quarter. After a Cerro basket,
Janeira Scott picked the ball away before pulling up from the foul line at the 7:15 mark. Scott provided IUP a spark on the defensive end, drawing two charges in the first half along with a pair of steals.
Both sides went cold over the final few minutes of the opening half. Weaver converted underneath off a feed from Cerro for a 23-22 IUP edge before Pirosko responded back with a triple for the 25-23 halftime margin.
Pirosko dropped in 11 points with five rebounds in the first half for Gannon, which shuffled personnel after fouls stacked up on multiple players. Meanwhile, Cerro recorded eight points to pace the Crimson Hawks over the opening 20 minutes.
IUP reeled off an 8-0 scoring run, part of a larger 12-2 run that spanned four minutes. A steal and score from
Rahmena Henderson highlighted the IUP blitz as the Crimson Hawks stretched the lead to six (37-31) before the Knights eventually worked the score tied heading into the fourth.
Gannon did not allow IUP to build much momentum in the early stages of the fourth, using some timely baskets in building a 47-45 margin heading into the game's final media timeout. A stickback from Katie Ratliff provided the Knights a two-point cushion before Scott countered with a triple for IUP.
Maddie Wheatly knotted the score tied with a three with three minutes left, marking the final points of the afternoon for the visitors. Cerro later converted the back side of two foul shots for the 53-52 lead.
Up Next
IUP stays home, hosting Pitt-Johnstown on Wednesday, February 14 for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff at the KCAC.
Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's basketball on X (Twitter) @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_WBB.
