CALIFORNIA (Feb. 25) – The No. 3 California University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team trailed by as many as 16 points on Saturday afternoon before scoring 56 points in the second half to capture the outright Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West title for a consecutive season with an 80-64 win over IUP in divisional play on Senior Day at the Convocation Center.
With the victory, the Vulcans close the regular season with a 26-2 overall record behind a 20-2 mark in league action. Cal U completed a perfect 12-0 mark at home in the regular season. Meanwhile, the Crimson Hawks fall to 20-6 this season with an 18-4 record in league play.
Senior
Miki Glenn (Bridgeport, W.Va./Bridgeport) became the fourth player in program history to score 2,000 points in a career after tallying a game-high 29 points, including 20 points in the third quarter. She shot 9-of-16 from the floor and was a perfect 11-of-11 from the free-throw line, while adding six assists and three rebounds in the victory. Glenn is now averaging a career-high 19.5 points per game this season behind 13 games of at least 20 points.
Junior
Seairra Barrett (Center Twp., Pa./Central Valley) scored 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting and collected six rebounds and a team-high five steals while playing all 40 minutes. Classmate
Shatara Parsons (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) registered her third double-double of the season by tallying 12 points and 10 rebounds, while senior
Lana Doran (Northamptonshire, England/Barking Abbey) tallied 10 points in the win.
IUP opened the first quarter on a 15-4 run behind scoring nine-consecutive points over a span of 2:31. The Vulcans shot just two-of-nine during that run and had five turnovers. The Crimson Hawks used a 7-1 rally to take a 14-point lead, 22-8, at the 1:14-mark before a pair of free-throws by Glenn made the score 22-10 at the end of the first quarter. Cal U cut the IUP lead to 10 points on a pair of free-throws to start the second quarter before the Crimson Hawks responded to take a 28-14 lead at the 5:48-mark. IUP maintained a double-digit lead for the rest of the first half and held a 38-24 lead at halftime. The Vulcans shot just 23.3 percent in the first half compared to the Crimson Hawks making 51.5 percent.
Cal U began the second half with six-consecutive points to cut the deficit to 38-30 at the 9:03-mark. After a three-point play from the Crimson Hawks, the Vulcans scored eight-straight points to take their first lead of the contest at 46-44 with 4:34 left in the third quarter. Glenn scored her 2,000th career point on the next possession with a lay-up that started a 10-2 run for the Vulcans, who took a 56-48 lead with 41 seconds left in the third quarter. Cal U out-scored IUP by a 34-12 margin in the third quarter after shooting 13-of-18 from the field. The Vulcans opened the fourth quarter on a 12-4 run over a span of 3:40 to extend their lead to 68-64 with 6:20 left in the game. IUP scored five-straight points to cut the deficit to nine pointed before the Vulcans seized control with 12-consecutive points to take an 80-59 lead with 1:47 remaining.
The Vulcans finished the game shooting 45.2 percent (28-of-62) from the field behind a 65.3 clip in the second half. Cal U also finished 24-of-32 (75.0 percent) from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, IUP shot 44.3 percent (27-of-61) from the floor and were just 4-of-13 (30.8 percent) from beyond the arc. The Vulcans held a 40-30 rebounding advantage that led to 14 second-chance points.
IUP sophomore Carolyn Appleby led the team with 18 points and classmate Lauren Wolosik added 17 points on 7-of-11 from the field, including three-of-six from beyond the arc. Wolosik also added six rebounds in the loss.
Cal U earned a first-round bye in the PSAC Tournament and will host the winner of (4) Edinboro-(5) Seton Hill in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 1, at 6 p.m. The semifinals and championship of the league tournament will be hosted by the highest remaining seed from the PSAC East.
