ERIE, Pa – The Mercyhurst women's basketball team fell short of an upset victory at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center (MAC) Saturday afternoon against cross town rival #13 Gannon, 68-65. Adrienne Kloecker and Kelley McBroom both scored 14 points to lead the Lakers.
In the first half, Mercyhurst started hot offensively, as Angela Heintz would receive the opening jump ball and pass along to Kloecker for a fast break layup. After two made Golden Knight free throws and a converted layup, Alex Artise nailed a three-pointer to the tie the game early, 5-5. With 8:13 remaining and the scored tied, 19-19, the Lakers went on a 6-0 spurt to take their largest lead of the half. Jessica Bell started the run making two free-throws, followed by a Kloecker made jumper, a Kelley McBroom layup, and finished off with Heintz making one of two from the line to go up, 25-19, with 7:02 left to play in the half.
Gannon would make a run of their own after the Heintz made free throw. The Golden Knights would raddle of 16 straight points to take the lead, 35-25, at the 1:57 mark. The Lakers would go into halftime down eight, 38-30.
Mercyhurst would be down by as many as 14, with just under 15 minutes to play in the second half until the Lakers came storming back. Mercyhurst would score 14 unanswered points to tie the game, 50-50, at the 9:50 mark. Redshirt junior McBroom and sophomore Heintz scored all 14 points during the Laker's run. McBroom hit a three from the left corner to spark the offense, as Heintz followed with a jumper to cut the lead to single digits. McBroom was, then, fouled while shooting the three and converted all three free-throws. McBroom tacked on a jumper and Heintz finished off the scoring with a layup.
Mariah Penascino scored two of her eight points after making a jumper with 32 seconds remaining to pull within one, 66-65. Gannon would inbound the ball and force Kloecker to quickly foul, putting Mollie Sebald at the line, as she converted both free-throws.
With eight seconds left to play and the Mercyhurst down three, 68-65, Kloecker tried to convert a quick two pointer that wouldn't fall and the Golden Knight's pulled down the rebound to secure the victory.
The Lakers out shot Gannon from the field, as Mercyhurst was 52.9 percent (27-51), while holding the Golden Knights to just 38.2 percent (21-55). Mercyhurst also out rebounded Gannon, 35-31, as they pulled down 26 boards in the second half. Gannon, however, converted 20-26 free throws (76.9%), as the Lakers were only 8-14 (57.1%).
With the loss, Mercyhurst falls to 0-4 and 0-2 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play. The Golden Knights improve to 3-0, 2-0 PSAC.
The Lakers will be back in action Tuesday, November 25, at the MAC against Tiffin University. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
