CALIFORNIA (Jan. 7) – Senior Emma Mahady (Albury, Australia/Xavier) scored a career-high 24 points in leading the No. 25 Vulcans to a 71-62 win over East Stroudsburg on Wednesday evening in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Crossover play at the Convocation Center.
With the victory, the No. 25 California University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team improves to 12-2 overall and 9-1 in conference play. Meanwhile, East Stroudsburg falls to 5-9 overall and 4-6 in PSAC competition.
Mahady, who was held scoreless on Sunday, scored 15 of her team-high 24 points in the first half after connecting on four-of-six from the floor as well as six-of-six from the free-throw line. She finished the game shooting 6-of-16 from the field and 11-of-12 from the charity stripe, while also totaling six rebounds. Classmate Irina Kukolj (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) scored 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting while adding eight rebounds. Sophomore Miki Glenn (Bridgeport, W.Va./Bridgeport) collected 10 points, three rebounds and three assists while battling foul trouble.
In the first half, the Vulcans broke open an early one-point lead lead with a 13-4 run to take a 17-7 lead. Four different players scored during the run, including four points each from Mahady and junior Lana Doran (Northamptonshire, England/Barking Abbey). Cal U connected on four-of-nine from the floor including five-of-six from the free-throw line while also forcing four turnovers. Mahady extended the Cal U lead to 24-9 on a three-pointer with 8:36 left to play in the first half before sophomore CeCe Dixon (Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley) gave the Vulcans their largest lead of the first half, 16 points, with a jumper at the 3:52-mark before Cal U took a 38-22 halftime lead.
The Vulcans scored 10 of the initial 16 points to begin the second half, as Cal U pushed its lead to a game-high 20 points (48-28) when Glenn converted a traditional three-point play with 15:51 remaining. East Stroudsburg used a 16-6 run over a nearly seven-minute stretch to cut the Cal U lead to single digits at 60-51 at the 6:17-mark, highlighted by a layup from senior forward Jessica Martin. The Warriors shot five-of-six from the floor and connected on five-of-eight from the charity stripe during the run. East Stroudsburg later cut the Cal U lead to just eight points after a pair of free-throws by Martin with 2:41 left to play. The Vulcans then made three-of-four free-throws down the stretch the seal the win.
For the game, Cal U shot 40.0 percent (24-of-60) from the field while connecting at a 74.1 clip (20-of-27) from the foul line. In comparison, East Stroudsburg shot nearly 50.0 percent (22-of-45) from the floor and 82.4 percent (14-of-17) from the free-throw line. The Vulcans out-rebounded the Warriors by a 36-29 margin, including a decisive 19-7 edge in offensive rebounds.
Martin led all players and scored a career-high 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the floor, while Andrea Veres added nine points in the loss.
Cal U resumes PSAC West play on Saturday, Jan. 10, when it hosts undefeated and No. 16 IUP at 3 p.m.
