WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. (Nov. 15) – In a rematch of last year's regional semifinals, the No. 5 Vulcans suffered an 88-65 loss to No. 21 West Liberty at the Conference Challenge hosted by the Hilltoppers on Sunday afternoon.
With the loss, the California University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team drops to 1-1 this year after facing two of the top teams in the preseason Mountain East Conference (MEC) poll. Meanwhile, the Hilltoppers improve to 2-0 this season after returning three All-MEC players from last year.
Junior guard
Miki Glenn (Bridgeport, W.Va./Bridgeport) scored a team-high 23 points on 6-of-19 shooting and 11-of-12 from the free-throw line. She also collected seven rebounds, six assists and two steals while playing all 40 minutes. Glenn averaged 25.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists at the tipoff tournament over the weekend.
Sophomore
Seairra Barrett (Center Twp., Pa./Central Valley) registered a double-double for the second-straight day, finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds (three offensive). Junior
Precious Martin (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) also added 12 points on five-of-seven attempts from the field.
West Liberty scored the opening basket just seven seconds into the game before Cal U answered with a 9-2 run over three-plus minutes to take a 9-4 lead on a three-pointer by senior
Paige Wright (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) with 6:31 left in the first quarter. The Hilltoppers responded with an 8-2 rally to take a 12-11 lead at the 3:54-mark before the Vulcans snapped a three-minute stretch without a field goal on a jumper by Glenn with 3:31 remaining. The teams traded points for the next two minutes to tie the score at 16-16 before both teams were held scoreless for the final 90 seconds of the first quarter.
The Vulcans made a free-throw in the opening 30 seconds of the second quarter before the Hilltoppers mounted a 10-2 run over four-plus minutes to build a 26-19 lead with 5:19 left before halftime. Cal U was able to snap a nearly four-minute scoreless drought with four free-throws by Glenn to cut the deficit to 26-23 with 3:49 remaining in the first half. West Liberty then closed the second quarter on a 13-2 run after making a three-pointer as time expired to take a 39-25 lead into halftime.
Early in the third quarter, West Liberty mounted an 8-2 run to stretch the lead to 48-29 at the 7:49-mark before Cal U scored four-straight points to trim the deficit to 48-33 on a jumper by Glenn. The Hilltoppers responded with a 12-4 run over three-plus minutes to build a 60-37 lead with 3:18 left. Cal U then scored six of eight points before West Liberty took a 67-45 lead at the end of third quarter.
The teams traded points for the opening three minutes of the fourth quarter before the Hilltoppers mounted an 11-6 run over nearly five minutes to stretch the lead to 86-57 with 2:31 left in the game. Cal U then scored eight of the last 10 points of the game to cut the deficit to 88-65.
Cal U finished the game shooting 37.9 percent (25-of-66) from the field after going just 7-of-29 (24.1 percent) in the first half. Meanwhile, West Liberty shot at a 47.6 clip (30-of-63) from the floor and 75.9 percent (22-of-29) from the free-throw line. Both teams finished with 40 rebounds and forced 11 turnovers in the contest.
Senior guard Kaliee Howe led all players and nearly matched her career high with 35 points after making 12-of-21 from the field and 9-of-14 from the free-throw line. She also collected six rebounds, seven assists and four steals in the victory. Fellow senior Liz Flowers added 18 points, six rebounds and three blocks, while classmate Kierra Simpson tallied 10 points and eight rebounds while playing just 19 minutes.
The Vulcans return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 18, when they open Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play at Pitt-Johnstown with tipoff at 5:30 p.m.
