Vincent credits Cal’s ‘D’
CALIFORNIA – One important aspect of California University of Pa.’s basketball game may have gotten a bit overshadowed in the Vulcans’ 63-59 comeback victory over Edinboro in Saturday’s PSAC women’s championship game. While Kim Nowakowski was pouring in 24 points and Megan Storck was coming up with clutch baskets and rebounds down the stretch, there was something else that caught California coach Darcie Vincent’s eye.
“Our defense,” said Vulcans coach Darcie Vincent, who guided Cal to the 2004 NCAA Division II national championship. “That’s what did it. We were struggling on offense most of the night, except for Kim (Nowakowski), so we had to rely on our defense at the end to help us through.”
In particular, Storck and fellow senior Lisa Gottuso put the clamps on Fighting Scots guard Kelly Calderone with their pressing and trapping late in the game.
Vincent noticed her team was approaching Calderone the wrong way earlier in the game.
“We were trying to take Kelly one on one and she just loves that,” Vincent said. “We got excited and wanted to go out and challenge her. We were better off when he played team defense against her.”
The most important stop came when the Vulcan duo forced Calderone to fling up an NBA-range 3-point attempt as the shot clock was about to hit zero with 14 seconds left.
The long jumper was off the mark, and Storck snagged the rebound, which eventually led to Gottuso’s two game-winning free throws with 6.4 seconds left.
As a result, the Vulcans (26-4) earned the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Division II East Regional in Charleston, W. Va. They’ll take on No. 5 Wheeling Jesuit (26-4) in the first round Friday night in the fourth and final game of the night. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.
They’ll need another good defensive effort against the Cardinals to earn a rematch with either top-seeded Charleston (28-2) or No. 8 Edinboro (21-9) in the regional semifinals. The Golden Eagles and Fighting Scots play at 6 p.m.
Wheeling Jesuit, which is scoring at a 75.6 clip per game, is led senior Sarah Setcavage. The 6-foot-2 center is averaging 17.9 points and 8.9 rebounds out of the rugged WVIAC, which put four teams in the regional. The others are Charleston, No. 2 Glenville State (the conference’s regular-season champion) and No. 6 West Liberty State.
Coach Joe Key’s Cardinals trounced Alderson Broaddus in the first round of the WVIAC tournament, 88-49, defeated Shepherd in the quarterfinals, 79-75, but then lost to eventual champion Charleston in the semifinals, 76-63. Wheeling Jesuit had defeated the Golden Eagles 10 days earlier at home, 73-68.
Setcavage scored 30 points and pulled down 16 rebounds against Shepherd, and totaled 27 points and nine boards in the loss to Charleston. She has 34 blocks and 44 steals this season.
Nowakowski, a 6-2 sophomore forward who was chosen as the PSAC tournament MVP, is averaging 14.3 points and 10.0 rebounds per game and has 41 blocks and 38 steals.
Joining Nowakowski, the 5-4 Storck (10.1 ppg, 175 assists, 82 steals) and the 5-9 Gottuso (11.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg) in the Vulcans’ probable starting lineup are 6-2 junior forward April Smith and 6-0 sophomore guard Keris Timol.
Storck in particular would love to bring down the Cardinals to earn another shot at Charleston.
“They’re the ones who knocked us out last year,” Storck said. “We’d like some redemption.”
First, however, the Vulcans must stop Wheeling Jesuit from extracting some exemption of their own. The Cardinals lost to Cal in this same situation last year by a 78-68 count.
Three of Vincent’s top four players off the bench are freshmen in guards Lindsay Johnson and Brehane Dillon, and forward Amber Kister. The other is sophomore forward Danielle Dukes.
Cal averages six fewer points per game than Wheeling Jesuit, but has slightly better defensive numbers at 59.2 points allowed per contest to 61.8 for the Cardinals.
The Vulcans are making their fifth straight NCAA tournament appearance, and have advanced to the Elite Eight twice in that span.
Filling out Wheeling Jesuit’s probable starting lineup will be 5-7 sophomore guard Lindsey Piar (11.7 ppg), 5-8 junior guard Katie Repicky (11.6 ppg with 100 assists and 100 steals this season), 5-2 senior guard Jade Eckleberry and 6-0 junior forward Jenna Johnson.
Key’s top players off the bench are junior guards Katie Hine and Lindsay Coyne, and sophomore forwards Megan O’Donnell and Bridget O’Brien.
In Friday’s other first-round games at Eddie King Gymnasium, Glenville State (28-2) plays No. 7 Barton (23-7) at 1 p.m., and No. 3 Anderson (26-4) clashes with West Liberty State (24-6) at 3 p.m.
The regional semifinals will be played a 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday. The final tips off at 7 p.m. on Monday.