SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. (Dec. 2) – Facing one of the top teams in the Eastern Division, plus one of the premier scorers in the country, the No. 15 California (PA) women's basketball team suffered a 76-57 loss at Shippensburg on Friday evening to start Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Crossover action.
With the loss, the Vulcans fall to 4-2 this year and open league play with a 0-1 mark. Cal has lost back-to-back games in the series with Shippensburg, both at Heiges Field House, after the Vulcans previously won five-straight meetings. Meanwhile, the Raiders improve to 5-1 overall and begin conference action with a 1-0 record after being picked second in the preseason PSAC East poll.
Senior
Ciaira Loyd (Scranton, Pa./Scranton) led the team with 21 points while shooting just 7-of-21 from the floor. She also added five rebounds and six assists while playing all 40 minutes. Loyd has already posted three 20-point games this campaign after being an All-PSAC West First-Team honoree last year.
Fellow senior
Rajah Fink (Dover, Pa./Dover) extended her double-double streak to four-consecutive games. She finished with 12 points and a team-high 12 rebounds (six offensive) in only 24 minutes. Junior
Jordan Smith (Manassas, Va./Colgan) posted eight points and nine rebounds (three offensive), while sophomore
Allycia Harris (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Elmer L. Meyers) tallied eight points, seven rebounds (four offensive) and two steals.
Shippensburg standout Ariel Jones scored 35 points in the victory while going 13-of-34 from the field and seven-of-seven from the free-throw line. She also led all players with 13 rebounds (five offensive) while moving into seventh place all-time in PSAC history with 2,144 points, surpassing former Cal All-American Sara McKinney on Friday. The 2020 PSAC East Athlete of the Year, Jones leads all active players in NCAA Division II – and ranks third among all NCAA divisions – in career points.
The Vulcans held a 10-6 lead with 5:43 left in the first quarter before the Raiders scored eight of the next nine points to take a 14-11 lead at the 2:01-mark. Shippensburg later held a 17-13 lead at the end of the quarter and held a 23-18 lead in the second quarter before a layup by Smith made it a 23-20 contest with 5:16 left before the break. The Raiders then mounted a 12-3 run over nearly five minutes before taking a 35-25 lead at halftime.
Shippensburg opened the third quarter on a 14-4 rally to extend the lead to 49-29 with 5:35 left, as Cal went just 2-of-13 from the floor during the stretch. Later in the quarter, the Raiders posted a 9-3 run to stretch the lead to 60-37 with 57 seconds left before Loyd scored the final five points of the quarter to work the deficit down to 60-41. Shippensburg scored the initial six points of the fourth quarter to match its largest lead of the game at 24 points, 66-42, with 8:03 remaining. The Vulcans answered with a 9-2 rally to trim the deficit to 68-51 with 3:49 left to play.
The Vulcans were held to a season-low .319 field-goal percentage (22-of-69) and went just 3-of-22 (13.6 percent) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Raiders shot 35.1 percent (27-of-77) from the floor and converted 19-of-24 (79.2 percent) from the free-throw line. Shippensburg held a 49-46 rebounding advantage behind 22 offensive rebounds that led to 20 second-chance points. The Vulcans committed a season-high 19 turnovers and managed just three steals in the contest.
In addition to the double-double by Jones, senior Lauren Pettis – an All-PSAC East selection last year – tallied 10 rebounds (six offensive) and two blocks. Junior Treasure George finished with 13 points and five rebounds, while sophomore Taja Colbert scored 11 points in the win.
Cal returns to action tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 3, when it continues its weekend road trip by traveling to face Lock Haven in league play at 5:30 p.m.
