CALIFORNIA (Feb. 26) – Behind five players scoring in double-digits, the Vulcans advanced to the quarterfinals of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament on Monday night with an 81-70 victory over Slippery Rock at the Convocation Center.
With the win, the California University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team improves to 24-5 overall and will travel to face Edinboro, which earned a first-round bye, on Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. Meanwhile, The Rock finishes the year with a 12-16 mark while making only its second appearance in the PSAC Tournament in the last dozen years.
Senior
Shatara Parsons (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) scored a game-high 21 points after going 13-of-16 from the free-throw line, as she attempted just five field goals. She also finished with five rebounds, two assists and two steals despite playing just nine minutes in the first half due to foul trouble. Parsons, who was named PSAC West Athlete of the Week for the sixth time this year on Monday, has now totaled the fifth-most points in single-season school history at 626 points.
Junior
Jiahna Flood-Francis (Pittsburgh, Pa./West Mifflin) established a season high with 18 points on 6-of-14 from the floor and 6-of-10 from the free-throw line. She collected two rebounds, two assists and three steals while playing all 40 minutes against The Rock. Classmate
Abbey Sporio (Elizabeth, Pa./Elizabeth Forward) added 10 points, four rebounds, five assists and five steals, while sophomore
Gina Vallecorsa (Pittsburgh, Pa./Bishop Canevin) scored 10 points off the bench in the victory. Fellow sophomore
DJ Hahn (Warren, Pa./Warren) finished with 11 points behind three three-pointers and also tallied four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The teams traded points over the opening two-minutes before the Vulcans scored six-unanswered points in less than 40 seconds to take a 10-5 lead at the 6:15-mark. Cal U later scored nine-straight points over a two-minute span to stretch the lead to 21-9 after Flood-Francis converted a three-point play with 3:00 left in the first quarter. The Rock countered with 10-consecutive points to close the quarter and cut the deficit to 21-19. Cal U managed to take a 28-21 lead at the 7:11-mark of the second quarter before Slippery Rock mounted an 11-3 run to take the lead at 32-31 with 2:49 left before halftime. The Vulcans managed to score the last five points of the second quarter to reclaim the lead at 36-32 at the break.
Cal U started the third quarter on a 12-0 run to build a 48-32 lead at the 5:35-mark following a jumper by Parsons. The Rock made their initial field goal of the quarter on the next possession before the Vulcans took their largest lead of the game at 54-36 with 2:58 left in the quarter. The teams traded points for the next several minutes before Slippery Rock work the deficit down to 11 points, 63-52, at the 6:55-mark of the fourth quarter. However, the Vulcans maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game and sealed the victory by going six-of-eight from the free-throw line over the last two minutes.
The Vulcans finished game shooting 45.0 percent (27-of-60) from the floor and converted 7-of-18 (38.9 percent) from long range, their most three-pointers in a game since Jan. 8. Meanwhile, The Rock made 59.2 percent (29-of-49) from the field and shot 90.9 percent (10-of-11) from the free-throw line. Slippery Rock held a 36-26 rebounding advantage despite Cal U collecting 14 offensive rebounds. The Vulcans forced 24 turnovers in the victory and scored 39 points off turnovers.
Slippery Rock sophomore Brooke Hinderliter scored a team-leading 20 points behind 7-of-10 shooting from the floor and six-of-six from the free-throw line. Junior Morgan Henderson added 16 points and six rebounds, while sophomore LeeAnn Gibson scored 10 points off the bench.
Cal U continues play in the PSAC Tournament on Wednesday when it travels to face Edinboro at 7 p.m. The teams split the regular-season series with the home team winning each contest.
