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Box Score
CALIFORNIA (Feb. 7) – In a match-up of the two top teams in the NCAA Atlantic Regional rankings, the No. 22 Vulcans suffered a 72-61 loss to No. 3 Gannon on Sunday afternoon in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West play at Hamer Hall.
With the loss, the California University of Pennsylvania women’s basketball team falls to 16-5 overall and 6-2 in league action. Meanwhile, Gannon remains one of only three undefeated teams in NCAA Division II as it improves to 24-0 overall and 8-0 in divisional play. The Golden Knights dealt the Vulcans only their second loss at Hamer Hall in the last 31 games.
Senior guard
Crystal Andrews (Johnstown, Pa./Johnstown/Pitt-Johnstown) finished with a team-high 15 points and added six rebounds and three assists in the loss. Redshirt sophomore
Amy Johns (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport/Xavier) added 12 points and six rebounds, while junior forward
Kayla Smith (Elkins, W.Va./Elkins) registered her 17th double-double of the season with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Senior guard
Brooque Williams (Pittsburgh, Pa./Perry), the league’s leading scorer, was limited to single digits for the first time in 36 games (Dec. 12, 2008). She finished with six points and five rebounds after battling foul trouble for most of the second half. Williams also collected two steals to move pass Shippensburg’s Janette Pieczynski (1997-01) and IUP’s Jahzinga Tracey (2005-09) to move into third place in PSAC history with 380 all-time steals.
Gannon led the entire game and took a 40-20 halftime lead after out-scoring Cal U by a 14-2 margin over the final 8:23 of the first half. The Golden Knights made five three-pointers and posted a 24-14 advantage on the glass in the opening half.
Early in the second half, the Golden Knights stretched their lead to as many as 22 points, 45-23, and held a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game. The Vulcans managed to cut the deficit down to 11 points twice in the final two minutes of the game.
In the loss, Cal U shot a season-low 30.0 percent (21-of-70) from the floor and made only 27.3 percent (6-of-22) from beyond the arc. Gannon made over 53 percent in the first half before finishing the game with a 45.5 percent (25-of-55) from the field behind eight three-pointers.
Senior guard Kristina Freeman led Gannon with 17 points and finished with four rebounds, four assists, three steals two blocks against Cal U. Classmates Carrie Nolan and Tiffany Crocker added 16 and 13 points, respectively, while forward Brittany Tabron collected 11 rebounds.
Both teams collected 42 rebounds in the game with the Vulcans grabbing 18 offensive rebounds, however, the Golden Knights held a 15-10 advantage in second-chance points. Cal U forced Gannon into 19 turnovers that were converted into 17 points.
Cal U returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 10, when it travels to face Clarion at 6 p.m. Earlier this season, the Vulcans posted a 73-53 victory against the Golden Eagles.