Wright was formally introduced as head coach of Division I Miami (Ohio) Friday after spending the previous 11 seasons as coach of Gannon where he built one of the best Division II programs in the country. He leaves after amassing a 233-100 record in 11 seasons at Gannon, which most recently includes a 31-5 record and an Elite Eight appearance in 2013.

“When I talked to the team a week and a half ago, I didn’t see myself standing here,” Wright said at a press conference Friday at Miami, which competes in the Mid-American Conference.

While Wright was unsure of his status, the opportunities have been there for him, Gannon athletic director Mark Richard said.

“These are not the first schools that have been interested, but he’s always kept us in the loop,” Richard said. “One thing that we knew is that it would have to be a great opportunity for him because he loved Gannon so much.”

Richard said Wright was offered the job early last week before deciding to accept on Thursday.

In an interview on Miami’s athletic website, Wright said he initially had no plans to leave after leading Gannon to a 31-5 season, which included a regular season PSAC West championship and an Elite Eight berth.

“To be honest with you I wasn’t even thinking about it, I was completely happy with where I was at,” he said. “(Athletic director) David Sayler called me to gauge my interest and the next day I called him and said can we talk?”

Rising junior guard Brittany Batts, one of five starters returning next year, said she and her teammates heard the news from Wright.

“They called us in for a meeting Thursday night and he told us it was a tough decision but God had given him a great opportunity,” Batts said. “Unfortunately we’ll be losing a great coach, but we realize the opportunity and we were nothing but happy for him.”

At Miami, Wright will be replacing Maria Fantanarosa, who was relieved of her duties after a 19-13 season.

Gannon, which will host the Elite Eight at Erie Insurance Arena in March, will try to replace Wright by beginning a national search immediately, Richard said.

Men’s coach John Reilly, who spent the last seven years since arriving at Gannon sharing a Hammermill Center office with Wright, said coaches leaving is anything but unusual.

“Unfortunately, that’s the business of it,” said Reilly, whom Wright told of the news via phone Thursday. “The men’s and women’s teams have a unique dynamic, probably different than any other team at Gannon. We travel together, our teams experience a lot of the same things and I’ve enjoyed having the opportunity to work so closely with him.”

Wright leaves Gannon the most decorated coach in women’s history. His 233 win total is more than 120 wins better than his predecessor, Jodi Kest, and his .700 winning percentage is among the top 20 active Division II coaches in the country.

Wright, 47, recently finished his 27th year of organized coaching and will return to the Division I level, where he held assistant positions at Ball State, Butler, Duke and Northwestern.

After totaling at least 11 losses in each of his first four seasons, Wright’s teams have taken off during the last seven seasons, reaching the NCAA tournament five times and winning a conference title twice.

Gannon was champion of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference while it was a member in 2006-07, finishing with a 25-6 record. The Knights won 26 games two years later in advancing to the Sweet 16, but it was the next season when they reached new heights.

Gannon’s 2009-2010 team set the Division II record for wins by finishing 37-1 and made its games must-see theater, attracting unprecedented crowds.

An overtime loss to Emporia State in the Final Four was the Knights’ only defeat.

Wright also made his mark off the court through community involvement and service.

“You put basketball off to the side, he has done so much off the court with the Pink Zone game and the service the team has done,” Richard said. “He has touched a lot of young people’s lives within the women’s basketball community.”

Batts counts her and her teammates among them.

“He gave me the chance to play college basketball,” she said. “He molded us into a family, both the coaches and players; he was the one who founded this family.”

Wright said he intends to create the same family atmosphere at Miami.

Pointing at the players in attendance in the front rows at the press conference Friday, Wright said: “My first thing is to recruit these young ladies right here.”

JOE CUNEO

cuneo001@knights.gannon.edu

The Gannon University women searched for more than 30 minutes for any kind of offensive rhythm in Gannon’s 50-47 win over a determined California (Pa.) team in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional championship Monday night at the Hammermill Center.

Blake helped them find it.

When Blake re-entered the game following a breather with seven minutes left and Gannon and Cal tied at 27, the 6-foot-1-inch sophomore took over the game by scoring nine straight points to give Gannon its first lead of the defensive-minded game.

Using baby hooks and power moves in the paint on five straight possessions, Blake muscled her way through California’s stout defense, sending Gannon to a national quarterfinal game Tuesday against No. 2 Ashland, which defeated Wayne State 72-63 Monday.

“I wasn’t going to let my teammates down,” said Blake, who was named tournament MVP after finishing with 12 points and 16 rebounds. “I took the faith that they had in me and I put it back in myself and I was like ‘OK, if it’s going to fall, it’s going to fall now, so you got to go.’ And I just kept drilling them and they eventually started to fall and I looked up and we were ahead again.”

Gannon coach Cleve Wright said he wasn’t surprised by Blake taking over the game.

“We were literally on her back and I couldn’t be more proud of her,” Wright said. “I told her after the game she can be better and she said, ‘I know.’”

For a while for No. 7 Gannon, it appeared like nothing could fall, as the Knights shot less than 23 percent from the field in the first half and scored a minuscule 13 points. Cal managed to score just 18.

“I couldn’t have asked for them to play harder or better defense tonight,” Cal coach Jess Strom said. “Offense is our Achilles heel sometimes all year, but we make it up with our defense.”

Cal used swarming defense to contest every pass and badger Gannon’s ball-handlers, who narrowly missed numerous open looks.

“The first thing I talked about (at halftime) was what great defense we were playing in the halfcourt,” Wright said. “We knew we were getting good shots. I just felt like we needed to be more focused at the rim.”

California maintained a slim lead for the first 10 minutes of the second half until Brittany Batts nailed a 3-pointer and Doriyon Glass made an and-one while falling to the floor. Glass hit the free throw, one of her game-high 15 points, to tie the game at 27, sending 1,403 spirited fans at the Hammermill Center into a frenzy.

“The crowd was pretty sweet tonight,” Batts said.

It included most of Gannon’s Final Four team from 2010, who held signs and cheered while sitting directly behind the Knights’ bench. Former point guard and assistant coach Tiffany Crocker sat behind Wright holding a “Believe in Cleve” sign.

“They built the foundation for this team,” Wright said. “These guys can tell you, they text each other, they’re together, they’re a part of it. Those girls that were behind us wanted it so badly for this group and they’re very proud of Gannon.

“That’s pretty cool. I don’t know if there are many schools where you see alumni come back like that in force and sit behind like that and be so supportive, but I think that’s attributed to what our culture is at Gannon.”

Cal (22-9) continued to fight to the end, cutting Gannon’s nine-point lead with 46 seconds left to three when Stephanie Michael hit back-to-back 3-pointers. The Vulcans had a chance to tie it, but had a pair of 3-point attempts blocked as time expired.

“I’ve never been on a team that when we’ve been down 10, we came back,” said Michael, who led Cal with 12 points and was named to the all-tournament team. “I loved playing for this team; it was my favorite of all four years, so I couldn’t be happier.”

Gannon improved to 31-4, including a final 16-0 mark at home. Gannon also exacted revenge from the Vulcans, who beat Gannon in the 2009 Atlantic Regional at Cal.

The following season, Gannon ripped off 37 wins in a row.

“It’s very different from the first time,” Wright said. “We had four seniors, a fifth-year senior and other kids who had been here a long time.”

This season’s team features just one senior in Kelsey McCoy, who was a freshman in 2010.

Having advanced this far then, Wright offered this season’s team a bit of advice.

“I don’t ever want us to take anything for granted,” Wright said. “This doesn’t happen all the time.

“The ones who were in the stands there tonight would say the same thing.”

Gannon will play Ashland in the quarterfinals 9:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Bill Greehey Arena in San Antonio, Texas. Ashland previously defeated Gannon 70-59 in the Knights’ second game of the season on Nov. 10.

JOE CUNEO

cuneo001@knights.gannon.edu

It turned out Gannon was right where it needed to be in the 64-46 win.

For the second straight night, Gannon fell behind early, before systematically overtaking the game with swarming defense that methodically led to a snowballing lead.

The Knights could’ve fooled the 1,003 fans in attendance—many of whom were in the same seats —into thinking the game was a replay of Friday’s 66-40 win over Fairmont State.

All 12 Knights saw playing time, 10 scored and only Jen Papich and Nettie Blake scored double-figures.

“It’s definitely a team effort,” coach Cleve Wright said. “Our players really care for each other, really care about each other and it’s really nice to see every player get involved.”

No. 7 Gannon (30-4), seeded No. 1 in the Atlantic Region, will play California (Pa.) in the Regional final Monday night for the right to reach the Elite Eight.

On Saturday, Gannon fell behind 13-9 when former Mercyhurst Prep and Mercyhurst University player Lindsay Stamp hit a 3-pointer a little more than five minutes in. But points were at a premium from there on out for the Indiana (23-9).

The Crimson Hawks turned it over nine times while Gannon went on a 14-2 run that lasted nearly nine minutes.

In all, Indiana committed 26 turnovers, many of which were unforced, IUP coach Jeff Dow said.

“In a lot of respects I felt that we gave them some easy points with being a little bit sloppy on offense,” he said.

Like Friday, Gannon immediately parlayed a halftime lead into an even larger out of the locker room by scoring the first seven points of the second half.

Gannon continued to stymie Indiana’s offense, holding the Hawks without a field goal for the first 7 ½ minutes of the second half.

Gannon frustrated Indiana by contesting shots and clogging passing lanes.

“This is our third time playing IUP, so to say that we can anticipate what they’re going to do isn’t giving them any credit,” said Papich, who led Gannon with 12 points and eight rebounds. “We do a good job of just being in position and not lunging and not getting ourselves out of position.”

Indiana shot just 27 percent from the field.

Senior Sarah Pastorek led the Hawks with 15 points and seven rebounds.

Gannon will play Cal for the fourth time this season 7 p.m. Monday. The Knights split their regular-season series with the Vulcans before beating them 77-50 in the PSAC tournament.

Cal, a seven seed, held off Glenville State 81-79 Saturday. Glenville State managed to tie the game in the final minute before Stephanie Michael scored the game-winning layup with four seconds left.

Wright said Monday’s game will tell him just how good his team is playing.

“I’ll tell you if we’re hitting our stride,” he said. “When we come out Monday night.”

JOE CUNEO

cuneo001@knights.gannon.edu

All-in-all, it was a good start to the NCAA Atlantic Regional for the host Gannon University women Friday night at the Hammermill Center, as the Knights beat eighth-seeded Fairmont St. 66-40.

Gannon (29-4) spent the first eight minutes feeling out Fairmont St., but once the Knights found their legs, they put together a blitz midway through the first half that

Coach Cleve Wright said the Knights battled stayed positive in order to rip off 25 of 27 points after they struggled with turnovers and were down 7-5.

“We were continuing to tell ourselves ‘to keep your heads up,’” he said. “I thought we were getting good looks they just weren’t falling.”

Once they did, however, Gannon’s defense followed suit by swarming to the ball on every Fairmont State possession. The Knights forced 14 turnovers in the first half, as they held the Falcons scoreless for more than six minutes.

Even after Fairmont State (23-10) scored seven in a row in the final minute to whittle Gannon’s lead 30-16 with seconds left, Gannon’s Mollie Sebald chucked in a halfcourt shot at buzzer.

“I always end my practices with a halfcourt shot, so when I saw there was about four seconds left, I thought ‘alright, this is mine,’” said Sebald, who finished with 12 points off the bench.

Gannon managed to log playing time for every player as it outscored Fairmont St. 49-9 in bench points.

In her first game off the bench since late February, forward Nettie Blake led Gannon with 15 points in 17 minutes.

Blake noted how her freshmen teammates, who made key contributions, have grown.

“I have to give it to my younger teammates for how fast they’ve grown this season,” she said. “They’re no longer freshmen anymore.”

In other first-round action Friday, Glenville State defeated defending champion Shaw 111-86.

California (Pa.) upset second-seeded Edinboro 80-72. The Scots received a boost when their ailing All-PSAC forward, Samantha Blazetic, scored 11 points in 17 minutes off the bench in her first action since injuring her knee.

Gannon will play the winner of the Friday’s late game between Indiana (Pa.) and Bloomsburg in the Regional semifinals 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Glenville State and Cal will play in the other semifinal at 5 p.m.
JOE CUNEO
cuneo001@knights.gannon.edu

Turns out they just had to look down the hallway.

Gannon, ranked seventh nationally, was awarded the Atlantic Region’s No. 1 seed for the second time in four years, giving the Knights the right to host all three rounds at the Hammermill Center.

The Knights had to wait for the announcement Sunday after sustaining their worst defeat of the season, a 74-57 loss the previous night against Bloomsburg University in the PSAC championship game.

“We thought we had a real good chance (to host) since it is based on your entire season and not just the last game,” said Gannon coach Cleve Wright.

The Knights arrived back on campus at about 3 a.m. Sunday after competing in an eventful conference tournament hosted by Bloomsburg.

In Friday’s 63-62 win over Millersville exchanged leads 10 times until Gannon forward Jen Papich stole a pass, got trapped at the other end of the floor and found Nettie Blake, who hoisted in a jumper as time expired.

“As a college athlete or athlete at any level, those are the shots you dream of,” Blake said. “I looked at the rim and said, ‘Here’s everything,’ and it went in.”

Saturday’s conference final was not as kind to the Knights, as host Bloomsburg used a 10-0 run midway through the second half before the Huskies’ home crowd. It broke Gannon’s seven-game winning streak.

“I thought we played really well for 20 or 25 minutes,” said Wright, who was named PSAC West Coach of the year.

On Friday, Gannon will return to its home floor where the Knights won the Atlantic Regional en route to a Final  final four appearance in 2010. Gannon will host Fairmont St. University in the first round, winner of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament at 6 p.m.

That game’s winner will play the winner of Indiana-Bloomsburg at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Student tickets are $16 for the tournament or $4 per game. They will go on sale one hour prior to each session of games.

“This season is already a success,” Wright said. “I look at it in two parts; now we move to the postseason.”

JOE CUNEO

cuneo001@knights.gannon.edu

But for the Knights, that wouldn’t be the right way.

Make that the Wright way.

Despite watching his team wrap up its second West title in four years with wins over Mercyhurst and Lock Haven, coach Cleve Wright has made a point to his players to finish the regular season strong, something they have taken note of.

“How are we approaching this game, Marisa?” Wright asked freshman forward Marisa Guyton Monday, already knowing the answer he’d receive.

“A day at a time,” Guyton said to her coach’s delight.

At 25-3, Gannon, ranked No. 8, still has a lot to play for as it jockeys for postseason positioning. In last week’s initial Atlantic Regional rankings, the Knights were tabbed first, meaning they hold the inside track to hosting the regional portion of the NCAA tournament.

“We would love to host the first round of the NCAA tournament and know we have to finish strong in the PSACs in order for that to happen,” guard Brittany Batts said.

Gannon would host the first three rounds if that remains the case, but Wednesday’s game, which will be senior night for forward Kelsey McCoy, Gannon’s lone senior, remains at the forefront for Wright.

“No, I’m thinking about Slippery Rock,” Wright said. “I’m just very intense and ready to go for this week.”

“We want to honor Kelsey, we want to play hard for Kelsey and finish the season right.”

Finishing has been the name of the game for Gannon all season, as the Knights once again overcame somewhat slow starts before wearing down both opponents last week to earn two more workman-like no-frill wins.

In a 62-50 win at Mercyhurst, 11 players saw action and scored, but none finished in double-figures. On Saturday, nine players scored, with Jen Papich leading the way with 19 points and 10 rebounds in Gannon’s 76-66 over Lock Haven. Gannon also committed just 11 turnovers Saturday, the second-fewest this season only to eight it committed against Ursuline in late November.

“They don’t stop and they find a way,” Wright said. “We’ve played 28 games and there have been many games where the team was able to find a way to win. Whether it was pretty or not didn’t matter.”

One of Gannon’s cleanest wins this season came against Wednesday’s opponent on Jan. 30, when the Knights took a 20-point lead at halftime before eventually routing the Rock 84-62.

But this season has taken wins of all kinds, which will pay dividends for the Knights.

As the No. 1 seed in the West, Gannon will be idle for the conference tournament’s first round and will play a quarterfinal game at the Hammermill Center on Tuesday, hosting the winner of Saturday’s Cal-Clarion game. The semifinals and finals will be played at the highest remaining seed in the East.

Wright said the extra time off shouldn’t interfere with the Knights’ routine.

“We’ll prepare for the game like any other, but we’ll have more days than we’re used to having,” he said. “We’ll use a little bit of that time to get some rest, get healed up.”

Should Gannon maintain the top ranking in the Atlantic Region, the Knights would have an advantage at the Hammermill Center, where they are 46-7 over the last four years.

When hosting the 2010 Atlantic Regional, raucous sellout crowds helped the Knights win each of their games convincingly on the way to a 37-1 record and Final Four appearance.

This year’s Gannon team is the fifth team in seven seasons to reach 20 wins, but Wright said it’s too early to know where it ranks among the others.

“That question is yet to be answered,” Wright said. “Ask me in about a month.”

JOE CUNEO

cuneo001@knights.gannon.edu

“It was early in the second half, and honestly, I was more focused on getting the win,” Papich said. “I didn’t really have time to relish it.”

Papich hit No. 1,000 early to a standing ovation as part of a 16-point performance in Gannon’s 79-59 win.

The Knights, who extended their lead in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division standings to two games last week with a come-from-behind win over Edinboro University Saturday, improved to 23-3 overall and 17-2 in conference games with another win over Clarion Saturday in the annual Pink Zone game.

The cancer fundraiser helped draw a crowd of nearly 1,700 largely decked out in black shirts reading “Together, we can Dominate.”

On the court it didn’t look like the Knights needed any help.

Gannon led by double-digits for most of the game, making the Knights 2-for-2 on the week. Their other win, a 71-62 victory over Edinboro Wednesday gave the Knights their first win over the Scots since March 2010.

With three games left in the regular season, Gannon can claim a share of the West with a win at crosstown rival Mercyhurst Wednesday night.

Gannon, which moved up to No. 9 in the latest national rankings, is seeking its first conference championship since it advanced to the Final Four in 2010. But coach Cleve Wright said the Knights’ next game remains their most important.

“We have to stay focused,” he said. “With three games left, I think it’s important to make sure we’re focusing on the game plan, stay disciplined, executing on offense and playing together on defense.”

In two games last week, the Knights’ defense once again looked like the third-ranked scoring squad in the PSAC. Gannon had allowed 80 points to Cal Feb. 9, a first for the Knights since early 2011.

“We had a blip at Cal, but in reality we got all of our goals except we didn’t play transition defense,” Wright said about the Knights trying to reach the goals they have for each game.

Each game, Gannon tries to achieve several goals: holding opponents to less than 60 points, taking charges, improved free throw-percentage and outrebounding its opponents.

“There are things that we try to accomplish every game that are challenging,” Papich said. “If we accomplish those, we have a better chance to win.”

The Knights are anxiously anticipating the release of the initial Atlantic Regional rankings Wednesday, which will ultimately decide the field for the NCAA tournament in March. The top eight teams in each region are awarded tournament bids. Gannon is vying for the top seed, which would host the first three rounds in the tournament.

“It’s much more important (than national rankings),” Wright said. “They determine whether or not you’re in the (national) tournament or not.”

Under a new PSAC playoff format this season, the top six teams in each division are awarded bids with the first- and second-place teams in each division earning a bye in the first round. Gannon has already clinched a first-round bye and will host the next round at the Hammermill Center.

The conference semifinals and finals will be hosted by the East’s top seed after Edinboro, the West champion the past two seasons, hosted last year’s conference final four.

“This year there will be a real big difference,” Wright said. “Our goal will be to finish up with these last three games and stay focused and get a win in that Tuesday quarterfinal game so we go to the final four.”

To do this, Wright said the Knights must continue to get the most out of their preparation.

“A lot of times at this point in the year, you’ll be thinking, ‘Let’s just get through this workout, we’re so tired,’ but we have to have the mentality to get something from it,” Wright said. “So change ‘that’ through to ‘from.’”

JOE CUNEO

cuneo001@knights.gannon.edu

The Cal loss was the first time the Knights have given up 80 points since the Vulcans tallied as many on Jan. 22, 2011.

According to coach Cleve Wright, the Knights gave up so many points because they struggled with their transition defense .

“You’re not going to win on the road when you give up easy baskets,” Wright said.

The Knights, who have typically only been giving up an average of 57 points per game, still had their usual offensive output. With 73 points and a 59 percent shooting percentage from the field, Wright said the outcome of the game would have been surprising on paper.

“If you take those two stats alone you probably think we won the game,” he said.

Cal was also able to explode from behind the 3-point arc. Typically a 29 percent 3-point shooting team, the Vulcans shot 66 percent on 12 3-point attempts.

Wright said that although Cal shot well, he thought there were several shots that should not have gone unchallenged.

“Overall, defensively we did not have a good effort,” he said.

Despite the offensive pressure from Cal, Gannon was still able to keep it close, cutting the lead to as few as six in the final minutes of the game. The Vulcans were able to stave off the comeback by knocking down their free throws in the waning minute.

The Knights will look to get back in the win column as they host Edinboro University 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and Clarion University on Saturday in the Pink Zone game beginning at 1 p.m.

Proceeds from the Pink Zone game will be entirely split between two local charities – Linked by Pink and Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.

The annual fundraiser to raise money for breast cancer research is especially meaningful for the Knights this year, as one of the players has a personal investment in the cause.

Freshman point guard Amanda Berchtold has seen her aunt battling breast cancer since her diagnosis four years ago.

“My aunt is a big part of my life and I really look up to her,” she said. “It’s so hard to watch her go through all of this.”

Berchtold, an Erie native, said that the Pink Zone game means a lot to her because all of the money is staying local.

“I hope that the money can help my aunt and everyone else in Erie who is fighting cancer,” she said.

She added that her team has been supportive to both the cause as a whole and to her personal situation.

“As a team, we have done a lot for this game to try to raise as much money as we can, and to also make it a great experience for all of the survivors who will be there,” she said. “I’m glad I can go through this experience with my aunt.”

The team is still selling Pink Zone T-shirts for $15, and every student wearing a shirt to the game will be eligible to win an iPad. There will also be a 50/50 raffle and other activities in the lobby of the Hammermill Center geared toward raising money.

In order to make the day a success not just for the fundraising aspect but for the game as well, Wright said that the team must come out with an attack mentality.

“That was a tough stretch for any team to go on,” he said. “We’ll be happy to be back home and to be supported by a good Gannon crowd.”

CHRISTINE PEFFER

peffer002@knights.gannon.edu

And after Clarion University upset second-place Edinboro University Saturday at McComb Fieldhouse, the Knights moved one step closer to their first conference title since 2009-10, the same year they reached the Final Four.

But don’t expect any scoreboard watching from the Knights, who will face third-place Indiana University of Pennsylvania for the second time 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and follow it up with a visit to California University of Pennsylvania Saturday.

“We can’t do anything but look at the team we play,” Gannon coach Cleve Wright said. “Whenever you look ahead like that, you’re setting yourself up for a disappointment or a misstep.”

In the latest coaches poll released Tuesday, Gannon reached No. 6, its highest ranking so far this season.

Last week’s wins against Slippery Rock and Lock Haven universities also gave the Knights 20 wins for second straight season and fourth time in five years.

Gannon breezed past Slippery Rock by outscoring the Rock 49-29 in the first half on the way to an 82-64 win on the road Wednesday before it wore down a game Lock Haven team, 70-62, at the Hammermill Center Saturday.

In both games last week, sophomore guard Batts led the Knights with games of 18 and 20 points.

Batts is Gannon’s leading scorer, averaging 13 points per game. She ranks third in the country in 3-point percentage, shooting 46.7 percent, and is fourth with 3.3 3’s per contest.

“I wouldn’t be able to have the success without my teammates helping me get open,” Batts said. “We have great post players on the inside and we want to feed them the ball, and if they double them they can kick it out, we can drive. It opens up so many options.”

Forward Nettie Blake had statiscally her best game Saturday, finishing with 18 points and 16 rebounds.

On Wednesday, the Knights will try to avoid a repeat of last season, when, after routing IUP in their first meeting, the Hawks beat Gannon in the next two contests, the last in the PSAC tournament.

“That was tough losing to them last year, but we take every practice and game the same way,” Batts said.

The Crimson Hawks, who are 8-1 at home this season, appear to be to be cut from the same cloth as the Knights. Like Gannon, IUP’s starting lineup includes three sophomores in Marita Mathe, Amy Fairman and Ashley Stoner.

The Crimson Hawks also have two Erie natives in Lindsay Stamp and Zhane Brooks on the team. Stamp transferred to Indiana after spending her freshman season at Mercyhurst last year.

“I think when you look at the classes and the makeup of the team, it is very similar,” Wright said.

In addition to Wednesday’s game at IUP, Gannon will also host Edinboro on Feb. 13 for a game with PSAC implications.

Currently, the Knights’ magic number — the combination of Gannon wins and losses for either Edinboro or IUP until Gannon clinches the conference —  is six.

Wright declined to speculate on whether he would consider resting players should the Knights clinch the conference title early.

“I wouldn’t even fathom considering to think about that, just because we’re so focused on who we’re playing next.,” Wright said.

Gannon has already clinched at least a home game in the first round of the conference tournament. It can secure a first-round bye with wins this week coupled with an IUP loss to Clarion Saturday.

JOE CUNEO

cuneo001@knights.gannon.edu