GLENVILLE, W.Va. (March 10) – The sixth-seeded Vulcans worked a 15-point deficit down to one point in the third quarter on Friday afternoon before being eliminated from the NCAA Tournament with an 80-67 loss to third-seeded West Chester in the first round.

With the loss, the California (PA) women's basketball team finishes the year with a 21-11 overall record. The Vulcans made an eighth-consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament after capturing the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship last weekend, including a 62-59 win over the Golden Rams in the semifinals. Meanwhile, West Chester improves to 23-8 this season and claims its first victory in the NCAA Tournament since 2003.

Senior Ciaira Loyd (Scranton, Pa./Scranton) led the team with 20 points while shooting 8-of-21 from the floor on Friday. She also added three rebounds, six assists and two steals while playing all 40 minutes. Loyd finished the year a conference-leading 216 assists, which are the fourth-most in single-season school history. Additionally, the Scranton native finished her career ranked eighth all-time in school history with 393 assists while playing just two seasons.

Fellow senior Rajah Fink (Dover, Pa./Dover) finished with 18 points on 9-of-18 shooting and led the team with eight rebounds (three offensive). She is the first Vulcan to average a double-double in a season since Seairra Barrett accomplished the feat during the 2015-16 campaign.

Sophomore Allycia Harris (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Elmer L. Meyers) posted 11 points and seven rebounds (three offensive) while playing only 27 minutes due to foul trouble. Senior Halle Herrington (Philipsburg, Pa./Philipsburg-Osceola) scored 14 points behind 4-of-10 from long range in the losing effort. She finished the year with 75 three-pointers made, which are the most in a decade and the fifth-most in single-season school history.

Cal scored the opening point of the game on a free-throw before making its initial field goal at the 7:00-mark on a layup by junior Jordan Smith (Manassas, Va./Colgan). The Vulcans scored again on their next possession to make it a 7-5 contest for the Golden Rams. However, West Chester then rallied off 11-unanswered points to take an 18-5 lead with 2:27 left in the first quarter. During the run, Harris was whistled for a pair of fouls within a span of 15 seconds and was forced the bench at the 3:43-mark. The Vulcans snapped a nearly five-minute scoreless drought with a basket by Loyd with 1:27 remaining before the Golden Rams scored four-straight points to end the quarter with a 22-7 lead. Cal was held to just 3-of-20 shooting (15.0 percent) and out-rebounded by a 16-8 margin in the opening quarter.

The Vulcans started the second quarter on a 9-2 run, as they trimmed the deficit to 24-16 on a basket by Fink with 7:23 left before halftime. Cal later posted a 7-2 rally, started with a three-pointer from Herrington, to make it a two-possession game at 30-25 with 3:08 remaining before the break. The teams traded points for the remainder of the quarter with the Golden Rams taking a 37-30 lead at halftime.

West Chester regained a double-digit lead after scoring six of the opening eight points in the third quarter before Cal countered with a 7-2 run to trim the deficit to 45-39 on a jumper by Loyd at the 6:56-mark. The Vulcans later registered seven-straight points to trail by a 47-46 margin with 3:06 left in the quarter. Fink scored four points in the final two minutes, as the Golden Rams held a 51-50 lead. However, Harris was again forced to the bench after being issued her fourth foul with 21 seconds left in the quarter.

The Golden Rams started the fourth quarter on a sizeable 11-0 run to stretch the lead to 62-50 with 5:54 left to play. Cal scored its first points of the quarter 11 seconds later when Herrington made a three-pointer. The Vulcans later posted an 8-1 rally to make it a two-possession game at 67-63 on a jumper by Loyd at the 2:15-mark. However, West Chester scored seven-straight points in just over one minute to reclaim a double-digit lead at 74-63 with 51 seconds remaining. Harris scored a pair of layups in just two seconds before the Golden Rams sealed the victory by scoring the final six points of the game in over 30 seconds.

Cal finished the game shooting 41.2 percent (28-of-68) from the floor while going 4-of-18 (22.2 percent) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, West Chester posted a 53.6 clip (30-of-56) from the field and converted 17-of-24 (70.8 percent) from the free-throw line. The Golden Rams held a 36-32 rebounding advantage despite 12 offensive rebounds by the Vulcans that led to 17 second-chance points.

West Chester junior Leah Johnson set a single-game school record with 44 points on 17-of-28 from the floor and nine-of-nine from the charity stripe. She also added seven rebounds and three assists while playing all 40 minutes. Fellow junior Emily McAteer registered a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds after scoring 28 points against Cal in the semifinals of the PSAC Tournament last weekend. Sophomore Anna McTamney finished with 10 points and six rebounds in the win.