JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (Feb. 22) – Led by a career-high 26 points from senior
Rajah Fink (Dover, Pa./Dover), the California (PA) women's basketball team moved into a tie for second place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West standings with a 79-70 win at Pitt-Johnstown in league play on Wednesday evening.
With the victory, the Vulcans improve to 17-10 overall behind a 13-8 record in conference action. Cal now sits in a tie with IUP for second in the divisional standings with the rivals facing each other in the final game of the regular season. Meanwhile, the Mountain Cats fall to 15-12 this season with a 12-9 mark in league play.
Fink scored a career-high 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting and eight-of-eight from the free-throw line. She also added seven rebounds, three assists and one steal on Wednesday. Fink leads the team and ranks No. 11 in the league in scoring this year at 15.3 points per game behind six 20-point games.
Junior
Halle Herrington (Philipsburg, Pa./Philipsburg-Osceola) posted 18 points on five-of-eight from the floor, including three-of-five from long range. Sophomore
Allycia Harris (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Elmer L. Meyers) finished with 14 points, eight rebounds (five offensive) and two steals while playing only 29 minutes due to foul trouble. Junior
Jordan Smith (Manassas, Va./Colgan) tallied 11 points and three rebounds, while senior
Ciaira Loyd (Scranton, Pa./Scranton) registered eight points, four rebounds and six assists.
Early in the first quarter, the Vulcans posted a 9-4 run to take a 13-8 lead on a three-pointer by Herrington at the 5:25-mark. Cal later made five free-throws over a two-minute span to take an 18-15 lead with 2:29 left in the first quarter. The Mountain Cats scored the final four points of the quarter to hold a 19-18 lead. The teams then traded points for the opening four-plus minutes of the second quarter before Cal mounted a 7-2 rally over two minutes to take a 33-31 lead with 3:34 remaining before the break. UPJ scored six of the final eight points of the quarter to take a 40-37 halftime lead.
Cal tallied the opening eight points of the third quarter to hold a 45-40 lead on a three-pointer by Herrington at the 8:36-mark. The Mountain Cats then rallied off an 11-4 run to reclaim the lead at 51-49 with 5:39 left in the third quarter. Cal later countered with a 7-3 rally to take a 58-56 lead on a traditional three-point play by Smith with 17 seconds remaining in the quarter. The Mountain Cats took their last lead of the game, 63-62, with 6:40 left in the fourth quarter and later tied the score at 65-65 at the 4:41-mark. Cal then scored nine of the next 10 points to hold a 74-66 lead on a pair of free-throws by Smith with 57 seconds remaining. UPJ made its first field goal in nearly four minutes two second later before the Vulcans sealed the victory by making five free-throws in the final minute of play.
The Vulcans shot over 50 percent from the floor for the first time in nearly a month, finishing with a .509 field-goal percentage (27-of-53). Cal also converted 22-of-25 attempts (88.0 percent) from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, the Mountain Cats made 49.2 percent (29-of-59) from the field while attempting only 13 free-throw attempts. UPJ held a slim 31-30 rebounding margin, while Cal scored 16 fastbreak points after forcing 14 turnovers.
UPJ junior Peyton Alazaus scored a team-high 20 points on 8-of-17 shooting, including 4-of-10 from long range. Senior Ashley Norling posted 16 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals, while junior Cassidy Crawford finished with 11 points, five rebounds and two assists.
Cal closes the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 25, when it hosts IUP for Senior Day at 1 p.m. The winner of the game will finish the year second in the PSAC West standings and receive a first-round bye in next week's PSAC Tournament.
