Mar 12, 2005 By The 3 min read

Devon Powers kept the California University of Pa. women’s basketball team in the game early. Sara McKinney and Lisa Gottuso took care of business after that.

Powers scored all 12 of her points in the first half to keep the Vulcans within shouting distance of Wheeling Jesuit, and McKinney and Gottuso then led a second-half rally that lifted Cal to a 78-68 victory in the first round of the NCAA Division II East Regional Tournament at Anderson College on Friday.

The second-seeded and 10th-ranked Vulcans (26-5), who are the defending national champions, advance to today’s regional semifinal contest against third-seeded Charleston, W. Va. (27-4), which defeated sixth-seeded Clarion, 79-57.

California, the PSAC-West regular-season champion and PSAC tournament runner-up, trailed by eight at halftime. The deficit may have been larger had it not been for Powers, who hit double digits for just the second time this season.

McKinney and Gottuso heated up in the second half, however, and the Cardinals were cooked.

McKinney scored 13 of her 17 points after intermission, and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. It was her seventh straight double-double and 15th of the season.

Gottuso dropped in 11 of her 18 points after the break.

Kim Nowakowski also played well for Cal, totaling 11 points and eight boards.

Lauren Hansen and Katie Repicky did most of the damage for Wheeling Jesuit, of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, scoring 23 and 16 points, respectively.

The Cardinals started out on fire from the outside, hitting their first eight 3-point attempts, including four by Repicky, but then went completely cold from long range, missing their last 10.

Wheeling Jesuit scored the game’s first seven points and went on to build a double-figure lead in the first half, taking advantage of two quick fouls on McKinney, which sent her to the bench at the 18:20 mark.

Repicky connected on consecutive treys in a 21-second span midway through the first half to give the Cardinals a 23-11 advantage.

Repicky wasn’t finished. She hit three shots in a row, including a pair of 3-pointers, as Wheeling Jesuit soared to a 38-22 lead with 5:07 left in the half.

Powers then stepped up. The junior forward came off the bench to drop in five field goals in the final 4:37 of the half to help the Vulcans pull within 44-36 at intermission.

The Cardinals converted 16 of 28 shots in the first half.

“It’s been years since a team has had a half like that against us,” California coach Darcie Vincent said. “Although we were down, we knew that Wheeling would have to cool off in the second half and that if we just stayed with our game plan, we would be fine.”

California’s defense clamped down in the second half, allowing only four field goals in the first 12 minutes, as the Vulcans gradually chipped away at the lead.

Nowakowski finally pulled Cal even with a lay-up on a pass from McKinney with 9:47 remaining, then hit a free throw to complete a three-point play and give the Vulcans their first lead of the game.

Gottuso capped a 10-0 run with a lay-up at 8:51 for a three-point lead, and the Vulcans extended the gap soon after thanks to a 3-pointer by Megan Storck and a basket by Dani Mills.

The Cardinals pulled within two twice on baskets by Hensen, but Cal answered with an 11-3 run thanks to six points from Gottuso and five from McKinney to make it 77-66 with 20 seconds left.

Storck contributed nine points, eight assists and three steals in her first start in 12 games.