Changes could be in order as women's basketball loses to Gannon

Changes could be on the horizon for the IUP women's basketball team.

IUP Head Coach Jeff Dow said this after the No. 17 Crimson Hawks were handed another blowout loss, this time at the hands of No. 20 Gannon, 70-41.

The 40-point game was the second-lowest scoring performance in school history.

Dow said during a phone interview Feb. 2 that the Hawks need a bit of a wake-up call after their second embarrassing defeat in less than a month.

A part of those changes could be shaking up the starting lineup and rotation.

And according to Dow, no one is safe.

"We did have some individual performances that I thought some players had some good stretches, believe it or not, last night, that might possibly be putting themselves in a position to start. But on the flip side we had some individual performances of people that didn't look like they would warrant starting any time soon, but we'll see how everybody responds in these next few practices.

"Maybe if there are some personnel changes, maybe that'll change things up a little bit," Dow added. "Maybe that'll get some individual player's attention perhaps, through the entire roster, one through 12."

"I think everyone should know that nobody's job is set in stone," he said. "All spots are open."

Dow believes the Hawks lacked toughness against Gannon Wednesday night and at other points of the season.

"I do think that we got to get a little bit more of an edge back to how we play and a little more physicality than what we've been playing with," Dow said. "Even some of the games that we've won, it just felt like we just turned it on for a 10-minute stretch in the second half and we won in spite of ourselves in some of those cases.

"Hopefully, we get back to playing with a lot more competitiveness," he added.

IUP was not very competitive against Gannon Wednesday night.

The Golden Knights started the game on a 21-10 run. Freshman guard Marita Mathe hit a 3-pointer to close the gap to 10 with 5:57, which gave Dow some optimism.

"We're down 10 in spite of the fact that we've played really poor to that point, but at least you can say you're within striking distance and if you finish out the half strong, you got a chance at at least going into the locker room down single digits," Dow said.

Dow's optimism was quickly taken away when Gannon went on a 9-0 run behind three 3-pointers of its own, one coming from freshman guard Brittanny Batts and two from senior guard Caitlyn Lowe.

That run all but ended IUP's chances of coming away with a victory.

The 3's Gannon hit came from lapses in defense, which IUP had plenty of throughout the night.

IUP was essentially dominated in every statistical category. It was outrebounded 43-34, it committed 20 turnovers to Gannon's 11, it was outscored 29-5 in points off of turnovers, outscored 24-10 in second-chance points, and outscored 36-22 in points in the paint.

Not to mention IUP shot a mere 31 percent from the field, 20 percent from beyond the arc and 42 percent from the free throw line.

"As coach, probably what's even more disappointing is, the lack of a better way of putting, was the lack of effort, the lack of toughness and the lack of attention to detail," Dow said. "Some possessions had all three of those."

Lowe led the way for the Knights with 18 points and five rebounds followed by sophomore forward Jennifer Papich who scored 16 points and grabbed four rebounds.

The lone double-digit scorer for IUP was junior forward Sarah Pastorek who scored 10.

Moving forward, Dow said IUP will hopefully learn from the many mistakes that were made Wednesday night in Erie and use them heading into its first home game in more than a week at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow against Clarion.

The most important lesson he wants them to learn from Gannon, was that despite being up 30 in the final two minutes, they were still diving on the floor for loose balls and taking charges.

"Simply put, we just have to play better," he said. "We have to play harder, we have to play smarter, we have to play with more physicality. Those are all things that we've shown in the past and we've shown that we're capable of doing all of those things."

NOTES: Guard Talen Watson did not play Wednesday due to a sprained ankle. Watson did not practice Thursday and her status is uncertain for Saturday's game against Clarion.