ERIE, Pa. (Feb. 26) – Behind a run of 13-consecutive points in the third quarter, the Vulcans won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West for the first time since 2017 with a 63-57 win at Gannon in divisional action on Saturday afternoon.
With the victory, the California University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team closes out the regular season 22-4 overall behind a 17-4 mark in conference play. The Vulcans claimed the top seed from the PSAC West in next week's league tournament after entering play having already secured a first-round bye. Meanwhile, the Lady Knights fall to 21-6 this season with a 16-6 record in league play, which is the second-best mark in the PSAC West standings.
Junior
Shauna Harrison Sheffield, England/Myerscough) finished with a season-high 22 points on 7-of-11 from the floor, including five-of-seven from long range. She also collected three steals and two assists while playing all 40 minutes on Saturday. Harrison registered her second 20-point game this year and converted at least five three-pointers for the fourth time in her career.
Classmate
Dejah Terrell (Reading, Pa./Berks Catholic) registered 13 points, seven rebounds (four offensive) and two steals before fouling out. Fellow junior
Ciaira Loyd (Scranton, Pa./Scranton) recorded 10 points, six assists and three rebounds, while junior
Lauren Bennett (Buckhannon, W.Va./Buckhannon-Upshur) tallied eight points, six rebounds and three assists in the win.
The Lady Knights began the contest on an 8-5 run when they went four-of-four from the field before the Vulcans rallied with a 7-3 run to lead 12-11 with 3:03 remaining in the first quarter. Gannon ended the quarter by scoring five-straight points to lead 16-12. Cal U opened the second quarter by scoring seven of 10 points before the Lady Knights scored six-consecutive points to lead 25-19 with 4:00 remaining in the first half. The Vulcans rallied with a 5-2 run to end the half, as they trailed 27-24 at the break.
Gannon began the second half by scoring six of 10 points before Cal U scored nine-unanswered led by Harrison to lead 37-33. The Vulcans extended their lead with a 4-1 run before the Lady Knights mounted a 5-4 run to trim the lead to 45-39 after three quarters. Cal U opened the fourth quarter on a 10-2 run, as it reached its largest lead of the game at 55-41. Gannon responded with eight-straight points to trim the deficit to 55-49 at the 5:44-mark. The teams traded the next 10 points before trading the final six points.
The Vulcans finished the game shooting 41.4 percent (24-of-58) from the floor while converting 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) from three-point territory. Meanwhile, the Lady Knights shot at a 50.0 percent (24-of-48) clip and converted just 3-of-11 (27.3 percent) from long range. Gannon held a 35-26 rebounding advantage, while Cal U forced 23 turnovers and collected 11 steals.
Sophomore Samantha Pirosko led all scorers with 23 points on an impressive 10-of-13 form the floor and collected 12 rebounds. Graduate student Emma Wright finished with 12 points and four rebounds, while junior Tori Obenrader and senior Delaney Dogan recorded eight and seven points respectively.
Cal U is idle until Wednesday, March 2, when it hosts a quarterfinal contest in the PSAC Tournament.
