West Chester's Comeback Falls Just Short in 76-73 loss at Gannon

Follow the Golden Rams!
@WCUAthletics
/WCUAthletics
/WCUAthletics
/wcupais1

ERIE, Pa. - Riding a two-game winning streak to start the season, the West Chester University women's basketball team hit the road on Saturday afternoon and headed to Erie, Pennsylvania to start conference play with a game against Gannon University inside the Hammermill Center.
 
The Golden Rams came into Saturday's game undefeated after winning both games at the season-opening Carol Eckman Memorial Tournament, while the Golden Knights returned to the Hammermill Center on Saturday with a 1-2 overall record and having lost its last two-straight contests.
 
Despite being down 21 points to start the fourth quarter, West Chester managed to outscore Gannon 29-11 in the final frame and found itself down just one (74-73) with just 4.3 seconds remaining in regulation. With time running out, the Golden Rams were forced to foul GU's Maggie Mitchell, who entered the game shooting better than 90% from the charity stripe. Mitchell knocked down both clutch free throws to push the advantage to 76-73 which left West Chester with no option but to take a three in the waning moments. Mia Hopkins (Pittston, Pa./Pittston) got a decent look as time expired, but the shot would fall just short and into the hands of Mitchell who would hold the ball until the buzzer sounded – giving Gannon the 76-73 victory to start Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play.
 
Gannon held the lead for the first few minutes of the first quarter until a jumper by Lexi Bruno (Millville, N.J./Millville) at the 5:25 mark gave the Golden Rams its first lead of the contest, 11-9. After a jumper by Porscha Speller (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Catholic) knotted the game at 14-14, the home team ended the quarter with two free throws by Emma Oas to put the Golden Knights on top 16-14 through one.
 
The Golden Knights slowly began to add to its lead in the second quarter, eventually pushing the advantage to as much as 11 points. A triple by Camden Boehner (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg) at the 1:04 mark cut the deficit to eight (39-31), before a layup by GU's Haley Tewes in the final moments of the frame put the Golden Knights back on top by double digits (41-31) heading into the locker rooms.
 
Gannon pushed the cushion to a game-high 21 points in the third quarter and it looked like the Golden Knights were going to cruise to a big victory at home.
 
Down 21 to start the fourth, a three pointer by Alexis Anderson (Allentown, Pa./Louis E. Dieruff) at the 9:44 mark would spark a huge turnaround for the visitors. Speller dropped in back-to-back layups to trim the cushion to 62-48, before another triple by Anderson brought the Golden Rams within 11 (62-51) with just under nine minutes to play. Bruno knocked down back-to-back three's to make the score 62-57 and then Hopkins connected on one of two free throws to bring West Chester within four (62-58) – capping off an impressive 14-0 run by the Golden Rams to start the fourth. Down five (74-69) with just over 30 seconds remaining, Hopkins connected on a layup before converting a putback off a miss by Boehner to bring West Chester within one (74-73) with four seconds to play and no timeouts. Forced to foul, the Golden Rams sent M. Mitchell to the line with just a few second remaining and the game on the line. The 92% free throw shooter knocked both free throws down to put Gannon up three and force West Chester to go the length of the court without any timeout. Hopkins got a solid look from the corner, but her triple fell short and into the arms of Mitchell as time expired to give the Golden Knights the 76-73 victory to start conference play.
 
Bruno's 19 points led three West Chester scorers in double figures and her six assists were tops on the team. Hopkins logged her third-straight double-double of the season (12 points/11 rebounds), while Speller chipped in 14 points and a game-high five steals in 29 minutes played.
 
Maggie Mitchell scored a game-high 20 points for Golden Knights in the win and Nicole Lacava tallied 12 points and team-high nine boards in the win.