ERIE, Pa. - Senior forward
Amber Renz scored just five points on the night, but her layup in the second quarter would be enough to put her at 1,000 for her Mercyhurst career. However, it would not be enough to help Mercyhurst past the Gannon University Lady Knights as they earned the 76-49 victory in round two of the Porreco Pride of Erie Games at the Hammermill Center on Wednesday night.
After a scoreless first minute Tori Obenrader gave the hosts a 2-0 lead, before a foul shot by Renz trimmed it to 2-1. However, Chelsea Rourke, Haley Tewes,and Obenrader worked a 7-2 run to make it 9-3 with four minutes gone.
Lauren Lapertosa and Boston McKinney exchanged buckets to keep the deficit at six, 11-5. Two
Nicolete Newman triples provided some spark, but the Lakers still trailed 15-11 through one as neither team would score in the final 2:34.
Gannon began the second frame strong with Rourke and Tewes each scoring four points during an 8-2 push with Newman netting the only Lakers points leaving them down 23-13 at the 3:10 mark.
Meghan Komendarek split a pair at the charity stripe to bring the margin under double-figures 23-14, unfortunately, Sydney Mitchell, Rourke, and Obenrader went on a 7-0 charge to extend the advantage to 30-14 with under three minutes left. Renz would reach the 1,000 point plateau when she took a dish from
Kori Sidwell and laid it up and in to bring the score to 30-16, but the Lady Knights closed on a 5-0 sprint to end the half up 35-16.
Mercyhurst came out of the break looking to gain some ground back as Renz hit inside and Newman delivered from long range to make it 37-21 with 7:34 to go. Gannon earned the next six points, before four consecutive from Newman kept the visitors hanging around 42-25 still with half of the third quarter remaining. Obenrader, Rourke and Mitchell gave the hosts control right back with an 8-2 run pushing the advantage to 50-27. The Lakers answered back with a 7-0 rampage to get back within 50-34. Back-to-back buckets by Tewes made it 54-34 through 30-minutes.
Gannon kept up the momentum to start the final quarter with a 7-2 run finished by a McKinney layup extending the lead to 61-36 at the 3:21 mark. The Lady Knights grabbed their largest edge of the evening thanks to an Obenrader triple at 70-41. Newman would knock home two more threes and
Emily Shopene hit a pull-up jumper to account for the rest of the Lakers points as Gannon saw the rest of the game out for the 76-49 final.
Mercyhurst shot 39.2% from the floor, 35.3% outside the arc, and 42.9% on the charity line. Gannon went 53.2% in the field, 42.1% from deep in addition to 66.7% on the foul line. The Lakers outscored the home side 31-6 off the bench, but were outmanned 50-20 in the paint.
Newman had a season-high 23 points going 9-16 from the field, including 5-10 beyond the arc. Shopene had nine, while
Vivian Allison, Komendarek, and Renz combined for 13. Sidwell had a team-high seven boards, while Newman added five.
Game charger award winner Tewes had a team-high six boards and 17 points. Rourke (18), Mitchell (14), and Obenrader (13) joined Tewes in double-figures. Obenrader also grabbed six rebounds.
Postseason Push
The Lakers fall a game behind idle Seton Hill for the final playoff spot, but are only one game behind Pitt-Johnstown for fifth.
On Deck - Time to Rest
Mercyhurst will have the weekend off before facing off with Pitt-Johnstown at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center on Wednesday, February 19 at 5:30 pm.
