KUTZTOWN, Pa. (Dec. 30) – In a meeting of division winners from last season, the Vulcans withstood a fourth-quarter rally to claim a 48-47 victory at Kutztown in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Crossover play on Friday afternoon.

With the win, the California (PA) women's basketball team improves to 7-4 overall behind a 3-2 record in league action. The Vulcans and Golden Bears were meeting for the first time since the semifinals of the 2019 PSAC Tournament. Meanwhile, Kutztown falls to 5-6 this season with a 3-2 mark in conference play.

Sophomore Talia Gilliard (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) led the team and tied her career high with 12 points off the bench. She shot 4-of-10 from beyond the arc in the first half and finished with two rebounds and one steal while playing a total of 14 minutes. Gilliard entered the game having made only six three-pointers in 19 career games.

Senior Rajah Fink (Dover, Pa./Dover) recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. She has recorded six double-doubles this year after totaling just one double-double in three seasons at IUP. Sophomore Allycia Harris (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Elmer L. Meyers) set a career high with 13 rebounds (five offensive) and added seven points and three steals, while freshman Alicia Young (McKees Rocks, Pa./Sto-Rox) finished with four points and four rebounds in six minutes off the bench.

Cal held a 45-30 lead at the end of the third quarter before being held without a field goal in the fourth quarter (0-10). The Golden Bears opened the quarter on an 11-0 run to trim the deficit to 45-41 and held the Vulcans scoreless until a free-throw at the 3:48-mark. Kutztown then made it a single-possession game, 46-43, with 2:04 remaining and later tailed 46-44 following a free-throw at the 1:03-mark. Cal missed a three-pointer with 30 seconds left before Kutztown missed three-straight shots before junior Halle Herrington (Philipsburg, Pa./Philipsburg-Osceola) finally collected a rebound with just two seconds remaining. She then sealed the victory by converting both free-throw attempts, 48-44, before the Golden Bears made a three-pointer at the buzzer.

The Vulcans made a pair of three-pointers in the opening 90 seconds of the game and built a 7-2 lead before the Golden Bears scored seven-straight points to take a 9-7 lead with 4:23 left in the first quarter. Cal answered with nine-unanswered points to take a 16-9 lead on a layup by Harris at the 1:46-mark. The teams then traded three-pointers in the final 30 seconds with the Vulcans maintaining a 19-12 lead at the end of the quarter. Midway through the second quarter, Gilliard converted a pair of three-pointers within 40 seconds to give Cal a 29-16 lead with 4:15 left before the break. Cal later scored six of the last eight points of the quarter to take a 35-20 lead into halftime. The Vulcans limited the Golden Bears to only one field goal in the second quarter and just four field goals in the first half on Friday.

Early in the third quarter, the Golden Bears scored six of eight points to work the deficit to 39-28 at the 7:04-mark. Cal then snapped a four-plus minute scoreless drought with a jumper by Fink that sparked a 6-0 rally to increase the lead to 45-28 with 2:23 left in the quarter. Kutztown made a pair of free-throws in the final minute to trim the deficit back to 15 points, 45-30.

Cal was held to a season-low 29.5 field-goal percentage (18-of-61) in the victory, including just 6-of-27 (22.2 percent) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Kutztown shot at a 30.2 clip (13-of-43) from the floor and converted 72.7 percent (16-of-22) from the free-throw line. The Vulcans finished with a 41-34 rebound advantage behind 15 offensive rebounds that led to 19 second-chance points.

Junior Abbey Hearn – the 2022 PSAC East Freshman of the Year – scored a game-high 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting and added seven rebounds. Senior Casey Remolde, a two-time All-PSAC East selection, finished with nine points and three blocks, while classmate Sydney Pierson registered 11 rebounds, four blocks and three assists.

The Vulcans return to action when they open PSAC West play on Wednesday, Jan. 4, by hosting Clarion at the Convocation Center, starting at 5:30 p.m.