INDIANA, Pa. (Jan. 23) – The No. 13 Vulcans drew a crucial charging foul and made seven free-throws in the final 30 seconds to seal a 61-56 upset victory over No. 1 IUP on Wednesday evening in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West play.
With the win, the California University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team improves to 16-1 overall and are now tied for first place in the divisional standings with a 10-1 record. Meanwhile, the Crimson Hawks drop to 15-1 this season with a 10-1 mark in league action. Cal U has now upset IUP in back-to-back seasons, as the Vulcans earned a 62-53 win last January over the then-No. 2 Crimson Hawks.
Redshirt senior
Seairra Barrett (Center Twp., Pa./Central Valley) posted her sixth double-double of the year with team-best marks of 18 points and 10 rebounds (four offensive). She finished the game shooting 8-of-14 from the floor and also collected two steals while playing 36 minutes on Wednesday. Barrett is averaging 20.2 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.7 steals during the team's six-game winning streak.
Fellow senior
Jiahna Flood-Francis (Pittsburgh, Pa./West Mifflin) scored 17 points on six-of-nine from the field with a pair of three-pointers. She added five rebounds (four offensive), three assists and four steals in the victory. Junior
Gina Vallecorsa (Pittsburgh, Pa./Bishop Canevin) tallied 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals against the Crimson Hawks.
The Crimson Hawks started the game on 10-3 run before the Vulcans responded with an 8-2 rally to trim the deficit to 12-11 on a layup by Barrett with 3:30 left in the first quarter. IUP snapped a nearly three-minute scoring drought with a layup at the 1:00-mark and later took a 17-11 lead at the end of the quarter. The Crimson Hawks stretched the lead to as many as eight points, 22-14, early in the second quarter and later held a 30-23 lead with 3:26 left before the break. Cal U then scored 12-unanswered points to close the second quarter and take a 35-30 advantage at halftime – the first halftime deficit of the year for IUP. The Crimson Hawks missed all five shots and committed two turnovers during the run.
Barrett scored the opening basket of the third quarter to stretch the lead to seven points before IUP cut the deficit to 42-39 at the 3:51-mark. Flood-Francis later snapped a five-minute drought without a field goal and the Crimson Hawks then answered with a 7-2 run to tie the score at 46-46 at the end of the quarter. Both teams struggled to score early in the fourth quarter, as Cal U took a 50-49 lead on a layup by Barrett with 7:19 left to play. The game then remained scoreless until the Crimson Hawks scored on a layup at the 4:46-mark before the Vulcans scored on baskets by Barrett and Flood-Francis to take a 54-51 lead with 2:46 remaining.
The score remained the same for over two minutes until IUP cut the deficit to 54-53 with 33 seconds left in regulation. Following a pair of free-throw by sophomore
Bianca Jasper (Middletown, Pa./Middletown), Vallecorsa draw a charge and Jasper added another free-throw to increase the lead to 57-56 with 18 seconds left. IUP cut the deficit to 57-56 with 14 seconds remaining before Flood-Francis and Vallecorsa both converted a pair of free-throws in the closing seconds to seal the victory.
The Vulcans finished the game shooting 39.2 percent (20-of-51) from the floor and went 17-of-26 (65.4 percent) from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, IUP posted a .453 field-goal percentage (24-of-53) and attempted just five free-throws. Cal U held a 33-29 rebounding advantage behind 13 offensive rebounds and forced 21 turnovers in the win.
Senior Brittany Robinson led the Crimson Hawks with 16 points after going eight-of-nine from the floor. Classmate Ana Hollen added 11 points behind three-of-five from beyond the arc off the bench, while fellow senior Carolyn Appleby was held to nine points, nearly 10 points below her season average, and committed eight turnovers.
Cal U will now play five of its next six games at home, starting on Saturday, Jan. 26, against Mercyhurst at 1 p.m.
