CLARION, Pa. (March 2) – Behind a trio of players with at least 18 points, the No. 17 Vulcans closed the regular season on Saturday afternoon with a 72-60 win at Clarion in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West action.
With the victory, the California University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team improves to 23-4 overall and 17-4 in league play. The Vulcans finished second in the PSAC West standings and earned a first-round bye in the league tournament. Cal U will face the winner of sixth-seeded Gannon and third-seeded Edinboro in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 6, at 7 p.m. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles finish with a 9-19 record this season behind a 3-18 mark in conference action.
Sophomore
Bianca Jasper (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) scored a career-high 18 points on six-of-seven shooting and five-of-six from the free-throw line. She also set a career high with seven steals and added two assists and one block while playing 36 minutes at Clarion. Jasper is averaging 11.2 points and 3.0 steals over the last five games.
Redshirt senior
Seairra Barrett (Center Twp., Pa./Central Valley) recorded her 10th double-double of the season on Saturday. She tied for the team lead with 19 points and paced the team with 11 rebounds while also tallying three assists and two steals. Fellow senior
Abbey Sporio (Elizabeth, Pa./Elizabeth Forward) scored 19 points on 9-of-17 shooting and collected six rebounds, five assists and two steals while playing 39 minutes. Sporio has scored in double-digits in seven-consecutive games and is averaging 15.1 points during that span.
Junior
DJ Hahn (Warren, Pa./Warren) posted 10 points and six rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench.
Midway through the first quarter, the Vulcans mounted a 7-2 run to take an 11-6 lead on a layup by Sporio at the 4:05-mark. Clarion worked the deficit down to 16-14 at the end of the quarter after Jasper and Sporio combined for 11 points. The Vulcans started the second quarter on a 12-3 rally to extend the lead to 28-17 behind three-pointers by Hahn and Sporio with 7:43 left before halftime. Clarion managed to trim the deficit to 31-27 at the 3:33-mark before Cal U closed the second quarter on an 8-1 run to take a 39-28 lead at the break.
Cal U scored the initial six points of the second half to take its largest lead of the game at 17 points, 45-28, with 8:39 left in the third quarter. The Golden Eagles answered with a 14-6 run to cut the deficit to 51-42 at the 3:58-mark before the Vulcans later responded by scoring eight of 12 points to extend the lead to 61-46 with 9:46 left to play. Cal U maintained a double-digit lead until Clarion registered an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to 65-58 with 1:59 remaining. The Vulcans later made seven free-throws in the final minute to seal the victory.
The Vulcans shot over 60 percent in the second quarter before finishing the game making 45.3 percent (29-of-64) from the floor. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles posted a .400 field-goal percentage (24-of-60) after attempting just seven three-pointers. Clarion held a 41-33 rebounding advantage, while Cal U scored 40 points in the paint and 24 points off turnovers.
Junior Kadijah Dickson led the team with 15 points and added eight rebounds, three assists and four steals in the loss. Sophomore Yndiah Bobo tallied 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while classmate Yasmin Lewis finished with nine points and nine rebounds (five offensive) in the contest.
Following a first-round bye, Cal U will host the winner of Edinboro-Gannon in the quarterfinals of the PSAC Tournament on Wednesday. The semifinals and championship of the league tournament will be hosted by the highest remaining seed from the PSAC East.
