ERIE, Pa. - Riding a four-game winning streak the Mercyhurst women's basketball team will seek to improve their resume for a potential NCAA Tournament birth when they welcome No. 12 Gannon University to the Mercyhurst Athletic Center on Wednesday night for round one of the Porreco Pride of Erie Cup.  The return contest will take place on Saturday afternoon down State Street at the Hammermill Center on the campus of Gannon University with tipoff set for 1pm.  

Game Information
Opponent - No. 12 Gannon University Golden Knights
Date - Wednesday, March 3rd and Saturday, March 6th    
Time - 5:30pm and 1pm
Location - Erie, Pa. (Mercyhurst Athletic Center) / Erie, Pa. (Hammermill Center)
Series History - Gannon leads, 62-30 / Lakers Last Win: 72-66, (1/23/2019 at home) / Golden Knights Last Win: 68-44, (1/23/2021 on road) 
Fan Statement - Fans will not be allowed inside either venue.
Lakers Notes
Live Stats (Wed)
Watch (Wed)
Live Stats (Sat)
Watch (Sat)

Last Time Out - LAKERS 78, Clarion 63 (2/23/2021) / LAKERS 58, Clarion (48) (2/26/2021)
Mercyhurst used double-doubles from Jayde Boyd and Grace Centrulla to help slide by the Golden Eagles on Tuesday by a 68-63 margin on the road at Tippin Gymnasium.  The duo combined for 34 points and 22 rebounds.  Meghan Komendarek added nine points to help the Lakers close things out.  Then a few days later back in Erie, Nicolette Arnold had a season-high 17 points to head a group of four players who reached double-digits as Julia Buchman (10), Boyd (10) and Centrulla (12) accounted for 49 of the Green and Blue's 58 points in the 58-48 victory.   

Scouting the Lakers (11-4)
Trying to Make a Case
With their two wins last week the Lakers improved to 11-4 which eclipsed their win total from last season in head coach Brooklyn Kohlheim's first season at the helm of the Hurst ship. The Lakers will continue to try and make a case that they belong in this year's NCAA Tournament as they have a pair of contests with nationally-ranked Gannon University this week to close out the regular season.   

Balanced Scoring
After double-digits in both games against Clarion, Boyd remains the team leader at 12.3 points per game, while Komendarek also puts up double-figures with 11.0 points.  Buchman and Centullla land just off that pace with each of them chipping in 9.1.  After her season-high 17 points on Arnold is now dropping 8.2 points per contest.   

Hitting the Glass
The Lakers out-rebounded the Golden Eagles 76-68 to put their margin at +1.5, grabbing 41.3 per game to the opponents 39.8.  Komendarek paces the group with 7.5 per game, followed by Boyd (6.9) and Centrulla (6.3).  Emily Shopene and Arnold both haul in close to five a contest.  As a team their 31.8 defensive rebounds per game ranks fourth in the nation.  

Protect the Ball
The Lakers have done a better job protecting the ball recently as they had recorded 15 or less miscues in six of their last eight games which included a season-low 12 on Friday at home in the victory over Clarion.  They have now dropped their average from 16.9 turnovers per game to 16.3.  However, they are only managing to force 13.1 out of their opponents.    

Block Party
Mercyhurst added two blocks in both games against Clarion last week to now bring their season total to 79, while allowing their competition to just record 36.  Centrulla continues to lead the charge posting 25 with Boyd (16) and Komendarek (14) also posting double-digits.  Emma McDermott, Arnold, Buchman and Shopene have combined for 22.  Their 79 blocks as a unit ranks them 14th-nationally and the 5.3 blocks per game is good for ninth in the country.   

Stat Pack
Through 15 games the team is averaging 65.0 ppg and are allowing just 59.1 for a +5.9 scoring margin.  They shoot 39.1% from the floor, 31.1% beyond the three-point line and 73.9% at the foul line.  The Lakers tend to share the ball more than their opponent handing out 14.9 assists per game to the competition's 8.9.  On the defensive end, the Lakers average 5.3 steals to go along with the 5.3 blocks. 

NCAA Leaders
As a team the Lakers are 46th in rebounds per game (41.3).  At the defensive end they are now eighth in field-goal percentage defense (32.9).  Individually, Shopene ranks 39th in assists per game (4.5).  With her 25 blocks Centrulla ranks 42nd.  Komendarek ranks 82nd in defensive rebounds per game (5.7) 

At The Castle (11-1)
Gannon comes into this week's set as the No. 12 team in the nation with a mark of 11-1, and riding a seven-game winning streak having not lost since January 29th in a tight 70-68 setback to then No. 13 Daemen College.  

On Deck
The Lakers and Golden Eagles will conclude their series on Friday afternoon at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center with tip set for 3pm.  They will then be back on the floor next Wednesday, March 3rd at 5:30pm when they welcome Gannon University.  In the Knights 68-44 win over the Lakers on January 23rd three players reached double-figures led by Sam Pirosko (17), Emily Poling (15) and Sydney Mitchell (11), so they will be the ones for the Green and Blue to keep eyes on all game long.  The duo of Pirosko and Mitchell are leading the way for Gannon averaging 15.5 and 11.1 points per game respectively.  Emma Wright is also hitting double-digits netting 10.2.  On the glass, Delaney Dogan, Pirosko and Wright are all grabbing five boards per contest.  As a team they hold a +14.7 scoring margin averaging 67.2 ppg, while allowing just 52.5.  The Knights are shooting 47.6% in the field, 35.5% from downtown and a solid 80% on the charity line.  Other team stats for Gannon are: rebounds per game (34.8), assists per game (16.7), and turnovers per game (16.7).  Head coach Cleve Wright sits on the throne of the Knights castle for the 13th season.         

On Deck
These same two teams square off at Gannon on Saturday at 1pm inside the Hammermill Center.  That game will bring about the end of the Lakers 2020-21 regular season and they will have to wait until Sunday to see if they have done enough to earn an at large bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.