CALIFORNIA (Feb. 24) – The California (PA) women's basketball team yielded just six points in the second quarter on Saturday afternoon while posting a 65-56 win over Mercyhurst in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West play on Senior Day at the Convocation Center.
RECORDS/SERIES
• The Vulcans improve 19-7 this season behind a 14-6 record in conference action.
• The Lakers fall to 16-10 overall with a 12-8 mark in league play.
• Cal swept the regular-season series against Mercyhurst after the Lakers claimed their first-ever sweep in the series last year.
• The Vulcans maintain a one-game lead for third place in the PSAC West standings with two games remaining in the regular season.
STATS
• Junior
Allycia Harris scored a game-high 20 points (14 first half) on 8-of-10 shooting and added seven rebounds and two steals.
• Freshman
Nina Shaw tallied 13 points behind 9-of-10 from the free-throw line, plus collected four rebounds and five assists on Saturday.
• Classmate
Kimaya Williams finished with seven points, three rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal in 19 minutes off the bench.
• Junior
Talia Gilliard posted a season-high nine points behind a pair of treys in 16 minutes against the Lakers.
STATS
• The teams traded baskets throughout the first quarter with no lead larger than four points.
• Mercyhurst held a 16-14 advantage after the first quarter, which featured a trio of lead changes and three ties.
• The last lead for the Lakers in the contest was at 8:57-mark of the second quarter.
• The Vulcans scored nine-unanswered points over two minutes to claim a 26-18 lead with 5:53 left before the break.
• Cal held a 32-22 lead at halftime after limiting Mercyhurst to just six points on 3-of-11 shooting in the second quarter.
• The Lakers later responded with seven-straight points to cut the deficit to a 35-31 margin with 6:21 remaining in the third quarter.
• Cal answered with back-to-back points and held a 48-40 lead at the end of the third quarter.
• The Vulcans stretched the lead to double-digits, 58-48, momentarily midway through the fourth quarter.
• Mercyhurst trimmed the deficit to two possessions 90 seconds later before Cal sealed the victory with a 7-3 run in the final minute of play.
• The Vulcans finished the game shooting 38.9 percent (21-of-54) from the floor and converted 21-of-25 attempts (84.0 percent) from the free-throw line.
• Cal scored 30 points in the paint and committed only 10 turnovers in the contest.
• Mercyhurst sophomore Bailey Kuhns led the team with 15 points on five-of-nine from the floor and five-of-seven from the charity stripe.
NEXT
• The Vulcans return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 28, when they host IUP in a meeting of regionally-ranked teams at the Convocation Center with tip-off at 5:30 p.m.
