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CALIFORNIA (Jan. 28) – Behind 15 points and seven assists from senior Danielle Luckett (Chicago, Ill./James Hubert Blake (Md.)) and freshman Chelsea McKnight (Grove City, Ohio/Harvest Prep), the Vulcans claimed a 76-67 victory over Mercyhurst on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West action.

With the win, the California University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team improves to 12-6 overall and 9-5 in league play. Meanwhile, Mercyhurst falls to 8-10 overall with a 6-8 mark in conference action. The Vulcans have now won all seven meetings against the Lakers since Mercyhurst joined the PSAC in the 2008-09 season.

Senior forward Amy Johns (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport) registered her sixth 20-point game of the season (15th career), finishing with a team-high 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the floor and three-of-six from the free-throw line. She now ranks No. 18 in school history with 1,090 career points, surpassing Stephanie Myers (1987-91) and Lisa Gottuso (2003-06) on Saturday. Johns also posted three rebounds and three steals in the win.

Luckett added 15 points after shooting 6-of-17 from the field against the Lakers. She broke her career high with seven assists and also collected three steals on Saturday. McKnight finished with 15 points (13 second half) on five-of-nine from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, and three-of-four from the free-throw line. She established season highs with nine rebounds (four offensive) and seven assists while playing 33 minutes, which tied her season high.

Freshman Emma Mahady (Albury, Australia/Xavier) tied her season high with 12 points (11 second half) off the bench, shooting a perfect five-of-five from the floor with a three-pointer

The Vulcans started the game scoring six-unanswered points in the first two minutes before the Lakers strung together a 10-1 run to gain a 19-18 lead with 8:05 remaining. Mahady ended a four-minute scoring draught with a free-throw to tie the game at 21-21 with just over three minutes left in the half. Johns scored her 12th point of the first half on a lay-up to give Cal U a 25-23 lead with just under 40 seconds remaining. Mercyhurst ended the half by sinking two free-throws to tie the score at 25-25 heading into the break.

Cal U started the second half on an 8-2 run to take a 33-27 lead at the 17:50-mark. The Vulcans scored seven-unanswered points to take a 41-33 lead with 13:26 remaining. Johns knocked down a jumper at the 5:33-mark to give Cal U a 14-point lead, 65-51, before Mercyhurst put together a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to five points, 69-64, with just under two minutes remaining in the game. McKnight closed out the game by converting two late free-throws.

For the game, the Vulcans shot 48.3 percent (29-of-60) from the field and 33.3 percent (5-of-15) from long range while going 13-of-20 (65.0 percent) from the free-throw line.  Comparatively, the Lakers shot 53.2 percent (27-of-47) from the field and 31.3 percent (5-of-16) from the three-point arc.  Cal U forced 30 turnovers and tallied 21 steals, its second-highest total of the season.  The Vulcans also registered 22 assists, their third-best mark of the year.

Senior Nikki Frederickson had a career-high 28 points for the Lakers on 12-of-18 shooting and also led the team with six rebounds. Junior Dana Banda added 10 points, while classmate Abbey Allen collected eight assists in the loss.

Cal U concludes the first round of divisional play on Wednesday, Feb. 1, when it hosts No. 3 and undefeated Edinboro at 5:30 p.m. Live stats of the game will be available by clicking here.