CALIFORNIA (Jan. 3) – The California (PA) women's basketball team held one of the league's top scoring offenses to only 16 first-half points and withstood a late rally on Wednesday afternoon to capture a 54-51 victory over No. 21 West Chester in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Crossover play at the Convocation Center.
RECORDS/SERIES
• The Vulcans improve to 9-3 this season behind a 4-2 mark in conference action.
• Cal boasts a 3-0 record against nationally-ranked teams this year with all three meetings being at the Convocation Center.
• The Golden Rams fall to 8-4 overall with a 3-3 record in league play.
• The Vulcans have won 10 of the last 11 meetings in the series with the lone loss coming in the last year's NCAA Tournament.
STATS
• Sophomore
Alicia Young tied her career high and led the team with 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
• She also added seven rebounds (five offensive), two assists and one block in 28 minutes.
• Redshirt senior
Dejah Terrell posted her third double-double in the last four games.
• She finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds (four offensive) in the victory.
• Junior
Iyahnna Williams tallied 11 points, four rebounds and four steals in 26 minutes off the bench.
GAME ACTION
• Cal scored the opening seven points of the game, as West Chester was held without a point until the 5:01-mark of the first quarter.
• The Vulcans held a 12-8 lead at the end of the opening quarter before the Gold Rams cut the deficit to 14-12 with 6:46 left before halftime.
• Cal later closed the second quarter on a 13-2 run to take a 29-16 lead at the break.
• The Vulcans held a 13-point lead again in the initial minute of the third quarter.
• West Chester mounted a 16-3 rally over six minutes to trim the deficit to 34-33 at the 2:44-mark.
• Cal scored the final six points of the third quarter, all by Terrell, to hold a 40-33 advantage.
• The Vulcans led by as many as nine points in the fourth quarter, including 52-43 with 2:22 remaining.
• West Chester responded with an 8-1 run to cut the deficit to 53-51 with 38 seconds left to play.
• The Vulcans finished the game shooting just 32.8 percent (19-of-58) from the floor.
• Cal held a sizeable 44-29 rebounding advantage behind 17 offensive rebounds that led to 16 second-chance points.
• The Golden Rams were held without a three-point field-goal (0-for-8) in the contest.
• West Chester entered play ranked second in the PSAC in scoring offense at 75.1 points per game.
• Senior guard Leah Johnson, who scored 44 points in the 2023 NCAA Tournament against the Vulcans, finished with 15 points on 6-of-15 shooting and committed eight turnovers.
NEXT
• Cal begins PSAC West play on Saturday, Jan. 6, when it hosts No. 3 Gannon in a rematch of the 2023 PSAC Championship at the Convocation Center, starting at 1 p.m.
