• Box Score

CALIFRONIA (Dec. 8) – Facing the two-time, defending-conference champion, the California University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team suffered a 70-51 loss to Edinboro on Saturday afternoon in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West action.

With the loss, the Vulcans fall to 5-1 this season and 2-1 in conference play. Meanwhile, the Fighting Scots improve to 5-2 overall with a 2-1 mark in league action. Edinboro has won seven-straight meetings against Cal U, including four in the last calendar year.

Junior forward Ashley Hines (Newark, N.J./Trenton Central) scored a team-high 13 points on 5-of-10 attempts from the floor and was limited to five rebounds, which is half of her season average. Senior captain Stephanie Michael (Morgantown, W.Va./Morgantown) finished with 11 points, marking the fifth time this year that she has scored in double-digits.

Sophomore Irina Kukolj (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) posted seven points and 10 rebounds (four offensive) in the loss. She ranks second on the team this year with 7.8 rebounds per game after averaging 1.5 rebounds as a true freshman. Fellow sophomore Emma Mahady (Albury, Australia/Xavier) added five points and five rebounds on Saturday.

The Fighting Scots opened the game on a 7-1 run before the Vulcans scored six-straight points to tie the game at 7-7 on a jumper by Hines with 15:47 remaining. With the game tied at 15-15, Edinboro mounted an 11-0 run over three-plus minutes to take a 26-15 lead with 6:07 left in the first half. Cal U cut the deficit to 26-20 with 3:31 remaining before Edinboro took a 33-23 lead at halftime.

Cal U trimmed the deficit to single digits early in the second half before Edinboro went on a 9-1 rally to take a 50-33 lead with 11:24 remaining. The Vulcans managed to cut the lead to 12 points, 52-40, before the Fighting Scots led by as many as 21 points, 69-48, with 3:12 left to play.

The Vulcans struggled from the field, shooting a season-low 26.2 percent (16-61) from the floor and just 23.8 percent (5-21) from three-point territory.  In comparison, Edinboro shot 50.8 percent (31-61) from the field and only 43.8 percent (7-of-16) from the free-throw line. The Vulcans out-rebounded the Fighting Scots by 45-41 margin behind 19 offensive rebounds.
 
Senior forward Samantha Blazetic, the PSAC leading scorer this year, paced three Fighting Scots in double-figures with 21 points and registered 13 rebounds (five offensive). Senior Kiara Brown and freshman Aignee Freeland both added 18 points and junior Darche' Jackson finished with 12 assists in the victory.
 
The Vulcans are idle for over a week before returning to PSAC Crossover play when it hosts Mansfield at Hamer Hall on Dec. 18 at 5:30 p.m.