SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- With the potential game-tying shot sailing over the rim as time expired, No. 2 Gannon managed to sneak past host Slippery Rock 76-73 on Wednesday evening at the Morrow Field House. The Lady Knights remain unbeaten on the season, posting a 7-0 overall mark and a 3-0 record in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West Division action. With the loss, the Rock fall to 1-6 overall and 0-3 in divisional play.
Five Lady Knights reached double-digits in the win. Senior Jen Papich led the Lady Knights with 16 points, adding four rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Off the bench, sophomore Morgan Neighbors tied a career game-high 15 points. In the last two games, the sophomore has scored a combined 29 points after not reaching double figures in the first five games of the season.
For the seventh-consecutive game, junior Brittany Batts reached double digits, adding 14 points with three assists to tie a career game-high. Junior Nettie Blake scored 10 points to go along with a team-high nine rebounds. The Lady Knights shot 42.9 percent (27-63) on the day.
D'Asia Chambers led the Rock, registering game-highs in both points (30) and rebounds (8). Aidan Geise added 15 points to the Rock's totals to go along with four rebounds, a block and a steal. The Rock buried 50.8 percent (30-59) of their shots including 54.8 percent (17-31) in the second half.
No. 1 Bentley 76, Merrimack 52
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. -- Lauren Battista, Courtney Finn and Jacqui Brugliera, three of the top 20 scorers in program history, combined to score 34 of Bentley's first 39 points and Division II's No. 1 team went on to a 76-52 win against Merrimack in Northeast-10 Conference on Wednesday night at Hammel Court.
Finn, a grad student, led the undefeated Falcons (8-0, 5-0 NE-10) with 16 points and Battista, a senior All-America forward, followed with 15. Brugliera, also a senior forward, followed with nine without missing a shot. None of the three saw much action in the second half and the trio finished the game a collective 14-of-17 from the field.
Bentley went into the halftime break with a commanding 29-point lead 44-15 with Merrimack having as many turnovers as points during the first 20 minutes.
The foul- and turnover-plagued second half saw the Falcon lead range from 23 to 31 points with non-starters seeing a large portion of the playing time for Bentley.
Finn achieved her game-high 16 on 6-of-8 shooting with four three-pointers. She also provided five rebounds and three assists. Battista also missed only two shots, finishing 7-of-9 from the floor. Brugliera made all four of her shot attempts and her nine points was matched by junior guard Kelsey Mattice and freshman forward Jen Gemma.
Bentley outshot the Warriors 55-32 percent overall, had a 7-3 advantage in three-pointers and committed seven fewer turnovers. The Falcons doubled Merrimack in terms of points off 24-12 and finished with a 33-15 edge in bench scoring.
Junior Aria Johnson was the only double-figure scorer for Merrimack (3-4, 1-3 NE-10), finishing with ten points.
