ERIE, Pa. - For the first 30-minutes the Mercyhurst women's basketball team looked like they had a great chance to seize back control of the Porreco Pride of Erie Cup as they trailed by just three at 49-46.  However, an 11-0 Gannon run to being the fourth quarter was enough for the 12th-ranked Golden Knights to build up enough cushion to hold off the Lakers 73-60 on Saturday afternoon at the Hammermill Center.  

The two sides shared the opening ten points of the contest in the first four minutes, before Jayde Boyd split a pair at the line to give the visitors a slim 6-5 edge with 5:45 left.  Delaney Dogan and Sydney Mitchell pushed Gannon back ahead 10-8 a minute later.  However, Mercyhurst responded in a big a way as Emily Shopene knocked home two on the foul line to spark a 10-0 Lakers run with buckets coming from Paige Woodford, Boyd and Shopene to take an 18-10 advantage at the eight-minute mark.  Emily Poling and Mitchell each hit from long range to get the Knights within 18-16 after one. 

Meghan Komendarek and Dogan exchanged buckets, prior to a triple by Emma Wright making it 21-20 home side with 2:15 gone in the second.  Woodford stuck her second three-ball of the contest to tie the score at 23-23 and Boyd finished up at the rim to bump the Lakers back in front 25-23 with 5:35 to play.  Boyd and Wright traded scores, before Mitchell hit a free throw pushing Gannon ahead 29-27.  A Nicolette Arnold foul shot brought it to 29-28, but a buzzer-beating three from Faith Williams gave the hosts a 32-28 lead going to the half. 

Komendarek hit a layup and Shopene delivered from deep to nudge the Lakers back ahead 33-32, 47-seconds in.  Four straight by Dogan got Gannon back into the lead and then Sam Pirosko added four more to give the Knights a 40-35 advantage with half of the third quarter still to play.  Grace Centrulla, Boyd and Shopene led an 8-2 run to allow the Green and Blue to reclaim a slim 43-42 edge with 2:28 remaining.  An Arnold trey kept the visitors ahead 46-45, but layups by Pirosko and Williams gave the hosts a 49-46 advantage heading to the final 10-minutes.

Gannon came out in the fourth and started to separate themselves as Dogan scored six points during an 11-0 Knights charge during a 4:10 span to take a 60-46 lead.  Mercyhurst got their first score of the quarter when Komendarek split a pair on the line 13-seconds later after a Pirosko foul.  She added two more free throws to cut the margin down to 63-49 with four minutes to go.  Komendarek hit a triple as she continued her one-woman charge for the visitors, before she was helped out by a Boyd layup to make it 65-54 with 7:26 gone.  Julia Buchman and Boyd each hit a three to account for the rest of Lakers scoring as Gannon held on for the 73-60 win. 

Team Stat Pack
Field Goal % - Hurst, 41.2% (21-51) / Gannon, 47.3% (26-55)
Three Point % - Hurst, 44% (11-25) / Gannon, 40.9% (9-22)
Foul Shooting % - Hurst, 58.3% (7-12) / Gannon, 70.6% (12-17)
Rebounds - Hurst, 28 / Gannon, 35
Turnovers - Hurst, 14 / Gannon, 11 
Blocks - Hurst, 4 / Gannon, 2

Mercyhurst Individual Stats
Points - Boyd (17), Shopene (13), Komendarek (10), Buchman and Woodford (6)
Rebounds - Arnold, Komendarek and Shopene (5)
Assists - Arnold (8), Shopene (5)
Blocks - Komendarek (3)

Gannon Individual Stats
Points - Dogan and Wright (17), Pirosko (11), Mitchell (10)
Rebounds - Dogan and Pirosko (10)

On Deck
The Lakers will look to build on an 11-win season when they hit the floor again in the Fall for the start of the 2021-22 season.