WEST CHESTER, Pa. (Dec. 20) – Head coach
Jess Strom reached the 200-win milestone on Friday evening, as the No. 9 California University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team earned a 67-60 victory at West Chester in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Crossover action.
With the victory, the Vulcans improve to 9-1 overall with a 3-1 record in league play. Cal U has won the last seven meetings in the series dating back to the 2012-13 campaign. Meanwhile, the Golden Rams drop to 3-6 this season behind a 1-3 mark in conference action.
Strom becomes just one of eight PSAC women's basketball coaches to reach the 200-win milestone, four of which are active. She boasts a 200-53 career record and a .791 winning percentage over nine seasons as head coach of the Vulcans. Strom has led the team to at least 20 wins in each of the last five years with three appearances in the Atlantic Regional Championship during that span.
Junior
Bianca Jasper (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) led the team with 15 points despite going 5-of-18 from the field. She also paced the team with six rebounds and three assists, plus collected two steals, while playing all 40 minutes on Friday.
Sophomore
Brionna Allen (Pittsburgh, Pa./Bishop Canevin) posted 12 points on five-of-six shooting and added five rebounds and two assists. Seniors
Monica Burns (New Stanton, Pa./Hempfield) and
Citiana Negatu (Silver Spring, Md./Blake) both finished with 14 points and three rebounds in the victory.
The Vulcans held the Golden Rams scoreless for the opening two-plus minutes of the game before West Chester held a 6-5 lead at the 6:14-mark. Jasper and Allen each made a basket within a 30-second span before the Golden Rams scored six-straight points to take a 12-10 lead with 3:45 left in the first quarter. Cal U responded with seven-consecutive points while holding West Chester scoreless for nearly three minutes before the Vulcans took a 20-14 lead at the end of the quarter. The teams traded baskets for the majority of the second quarter before Cal U took a 32-20 lead on a three-pointer by Burns with 2:01 left before halftime. The Vulcans took a 34-24 advantage at the break with the trio of Allen, Burns and Jasper accounting for 30 points.
West Chester mounted an 8-2 run early in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 38-32 at the 7:10-mark. Negatu later scored back-to-back baskets to give Cal U a 44-34 lead with 6:03 left. The Golden Rams worked the deficit down to five points in the final minute before the Vulcans held a 52-46 lead at the end of the third quarter. West Chester scored the opening three points of the fourth quarter and later tied the score at 56-56 with 4:16 remaining in the game. Negatu then posted six points over nearly two minutes to give the Vulcans a 62-58 lead at the 1:59-mark. West Chester cut the deficit to 62-60 with 36 seconds remaining before Cal U made five free-throws in the final 16 seconds to seal the victory.
The Vulcans finished the game shooting 36.9 percent (24-of-65) from the field after going just 5-of-22 (22.7 percent) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Golden Rams shot at a 50.9 clip (28-of-55) from the floor despite not making a three-pointer. West Chester held a 38-31 rebounding advantage and scored 46 points in the paint, while Cal U forced 22 turnovers in the victory.
Senior Katherine Fisher scored a game-high 16 points on seven-of-eight from the floor and added six rebounds and two assists. Junior Justyn Roberts finished with 12 points and six rebounds in the loss, while sophomore Kyra Jefferson posted 10 points in 16 minutes.
Cal U continues its weekend road trip tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 21, when it faces Millersville in PSAC Crossover play at 2 p.m.
