ERIE, PA. - The No.11/No.3 ranked Gannon University women's basketball team remained undefeated with a 55-39 victory over Daemen University Wednesday night at the Hagerty Family Events Center.
With the win, the nationally ranked Golden Knights remain unblemished at 6-0 while the Wildcats dropped to 0-3.
IMPACT PLAYERS
• Sophomore guard
Sophie Auer (Lewiston, N.Y.) led Daemen in scoring with a career-high 14 points while grabbing seven rebounds.
• Junior forward
Cecilia Lapertosa (Whitesboro, N.Y.) nearly secured a dobule-double as she finished the evening with ten points and a team-best nine rebounds.
• Junior
Shyla Montgomery (Brockton, Mass.) turned in a team-best three assists to pair with seven points
• Kate Ratliff led Gannon with 17 points while Andrea Maibach tallied nine rebounds in the winning effort.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Daemen and Gannon traded scored throughout the first quarter, but a layup at the buzzer by Trinitee Harris sent the Golden Knights into the second frame with a razor thin, 11-10 lead.
• The Cats continued to claw at the Golden Knights to begin the second stanza, but the hosts pulled away before halftime, scoring eight of the final ten points of the half to enter the locker room ahead, 25-18. Auer and Ratliff led all scorers in the frame with six points each for their respective teams.
• Daemen began the second half on fireas they tallied six of the first seven points of the frame to cut their deficit to just two, 26-24, with 6:59 left after a Lapertosa layup.
• That would be as close as Daemen got to retaking the lead for the remainder of the contest as the Golden Knights outscored the Wildcats, 10-2, over the remainder of the frame to enter the fourth quarter ahead, 36-26.
• Each side traded scores throughout the fourth quarter, but a 9-0 run by the Gannon in the middle part of the final stanza sealed the win for the hosts.
• Gannon finished the evening shooting 21-of-57 (.368) from the floor compared to 18-of-54 (.333) shooting from Daemen. The Blue and White did leave the Gem City with a 42-34 edge in rebounds.
GAME NOTES
• Today marked the 16th all-time meeting between the programs with Gannon now leading the all-time series, 10-6.
• Daemen was held without a 3-pointer for the first time under head coach
Jenepher Banker. As for Gannon, they were limited to just four makes from deep, ending the evening 4-of-23 (.174) from beyond the arc.
• Auer's 14 points topped her previous high of ten which she set last year against Nova Southeastern on Nov. 25, 2023.
• Freshmen
Reece Beaver (Busti, N.Y.) and redshirt freshman
Meghan Trapper (Buffalo, N.Y.) each made their regular season debuts for Daemen this evening.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will make their Lumsden Gymnasium debut on Sunday, Nov. 17 as they welcome St. Michael's College for a noon tip-off
Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.
Follow the Daemen women's basketball program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenWBB.
