Millersville, Pa. - Millersville women's basketball head coach Mary Fleig has always looked to instill a defensive mindset with her team and that was never more apparent than the last two games for the 2014-15 Marauders. Saturday, Millersville held PSAC West power Gannon to just 31 points on 15.8 percent (9-of-57) including a 2-for-19 clip from behind the arc en route to a 57-31 win over the Golden Knights.

The Marauders (9-4, 6-2 PSAC) were able to avenge a one-point loss in the semifinals of the 2012-13 PSAC Tournament and are playing their best basketball of the season with six wins in the last seven games, five of which have come by a margin of at least 12 points. During that same seven-game span, no opponent has shot higher than 40 percent from the field. Millersville improved to 6-0 at home, 8-0 when leading at halftime, 8-0 when shooting a higher percentage than the opponent, and 7-0 when the opponent scores less than 60 points.

Gannon (7-4, 6-2 PSAC) fell to 2-4 on the road this season and suffered its worst loss to the Marauders in the all-time series. In fact, this is Millersville's first win against the Golden Knights since 1993 and no game had ever been decided by more than 17 points prior to Saturday's 26-point margin. Gannon hasn't lost a game this badly since falling by 36, 83-47, to Hillsdale on Feb. 7, 2008. 

With 6:36 to play in the first half, the game was deadlocked at 15-15 and had seen four ties with the Marauders leading by as many as six, 13-7. Millersville then proceeded to end the first stanza on a 14-1 run and headed into the locker room with a 29-16 advantage. That run was fueled by all seven of Alexis Martin's points and during that span, the home team was 4-of-5 from the floor and 5-for-5 at the free throw line while Gannon missed all six of its field goal attempts.

In the second half, the Marauders improved their shooting percentage from 33.3 percent in the first half to 41.4 percent of the course of the next 20 minutes. The lead was never smaller than 12 for Millersville and was as many as 28, 57-29, with 3:12 to go until the final buzzer. After shooting just 16.1 percent in the first period, that mark turned decreased to 15.4 percent for the visitors in the second half.

Against Goldey-Beacom, Carly Gallagher scored just three points in eight minutes of action and missed the entire second half. Saturday, she was back to her old self with a game-high 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting including 2-for-6 from 3-point land along with four free throws in five attempts, seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Yasmin Cooper tallied the 12th double double of her career and third of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Cooper had earned the double double with 16 minutes still to play in the second half. The Newark, N.J., native is now averaging 9.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per game having brought down at least 10 boards in four of the last six games.

Team-wise, the Marauders outscored Gannon 18-10 off turnovers, 12-0 on second-chance looks and 30-10 in the paint while adding 12 assists to just four by the Golden Knights. Millersville outrebounded Gannon 49-39 including 36-25 on the defensive glass. Only six players scored for the Golden Knights with only one in double figures in Mollie Sebald (11). Nettie Blake came in averaging 12.4 but was held to four while Brittany Bats was held scoreless after coming in with a 10.6 points per game average.

Sunday, the Marauders will look for their 10th win of the season against Clarion and tip is set for 1 p.m. inside Pucillo. Millersville didn't capture its 10th overall win last season until Jan. 22 and entering Saturday, the Golden Eagles had won just one game all season and were yet to find the win column in PSAC play.