CALIFORNIA (Jan. 25) – In its final crossover contest of the season, the California (PA) women's basketball team rolled to a 91-53 victory against Mansfield on Wednesday evening at the Convocation Center in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Crossover play.
With the win, the Vulcans improve to 12-7 overall behind an 8-5 record in conference action. Cal also climbed into a tie for fourth place in the PSAC West standings and now sits just two games back of the division leader. Meanwhile, the Mountaineers fall to 2-15 this season with a 1-12 mark in league play.
Junior
Halle Herrington (Philipsburg, Pa./Philipsburg-Osceola) scored a game-high 21 points behind 6-of-11 from long range. She also tallied three assists and two rebounds while playing all 40 minutes. Herrington has recorded back-to-back, 20-point games after shooting a combined 13-for-20 from three-point territory.
Senior
Ciaira Loyd (Scranton, Pa./Scranton) tallied a second-straight double-double, as she collected 15 points and 10 assists on Wednesday. Sophomore
Allycia Harris (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Elmer L. Meyers) finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists and three steals in only 27 minutes. Senior
Rajah Fink (Dover, Pa./Dover) totaled 14 points and six rebounds, while classmate and sister
Rayah Fink (Dover, Pa./Dover) added six points and four rebounds in six minutes off the bench while making her program debut.
Midway through the first quarter, the Vulcans held an 8-7 lead behind a pair of three-points from
Rajah Fink and Loyd. Cal then mounted a 19-3 run over five minutes behind a combined 13 points from Harris and Loyd to take a 27-10 lead with 27 seconds left. The Vulcans held a 28-13 lead at the end of the quarter before the teams traded four three-pointers over two minutes early in the second quarter, 34-21. Cal stretched the lead to 21 points, 48-27, in the final minute before halftime after posting a 14-4 run over four minutes with Herrington starting and ending the rally with a three-pointer. The Vulcans took a 50-29 lead into the break after making a second-chance jumper in the paint right before the buzzer.
Mansfield managed to work the deficit down to 15 points twice midway in the third quarter while Cal made a blistering 8-of-11 attempts (72.7 percent) from the field during the quarter. The Vulcans sustained a dominating 25-3 run over parts of the third and fourth quarters to stretch the lead to 85-48 with 4:21 remaining. Herrington and
Rajah Fink combined for 17 points with Herrington converting back-to-back fastbreak treys early in the fourth quarter. Cal eventually led by as many as 40 points, 91-51, in the contest with 1:32 left to play.
The Vulcans scored a season-high 91 points after shooting 58.7 percent (37-of-63) from the floor, their second-best performance of the year with their best being set on Monday. Cal set a season best with 10 three-pointers while making 10-of-20 attempts (50.0 percent) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Mountaineers finished with a .380 field-goal percentage (19-of-50) and went 6-of-14 (42.9 percent) from long range. Cal registered a 36-27 rebounding advantage and scored 44 points in the paint, while forcing 25 turnovers.
Mansfield junior Jasmine Hilton led the team with 13 points and added six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Sophomore Emilie Leidig scored nine points behind a trio of three-pointers, while freshman Danae Ellzy paced the team with eight rebounds.
Cal return to PSAC West play on Saturday, Jan. 28, when it hosts Pitt-Johnstown at 1 p.m. The Mountain Cats enter the weekend tied for second in the league standings and sit just one game ahead of the Vulcans.
