Cal women continue mastery of Lock Haven with 67-55 victory
CALIFORNIA – California women’s coach Darcie Vincent entered Saturday afternoon’s game having never lost to Lock Haven as the Vulcans were riding a 12-game winning streak in the series. Thanks to a 67-55 victory at Hamer Hall, that streak was extended to a lucky 13. “Streaks are what they are,” said Vincent following the game. “They’re nice to have but they all come to an end eventually. Lock Haven is a tough team and when we go up there in February it will be one of the toughest road games we play. I was just pleased we could get the win and get back to .500 in the conference.”
“When you’ve only lost 30 or so games over the past 6 years you’re going to have some streaks like that out there,” Added Vincent.
California had to overcome early foul trouble as the Vulcans were called for seven team fouls in the first four minutes of the opening half.
“I’m usually not real big on talking about the officiating,” Vincent said. “But I thought they were really inconsistent both ways out there. It’s nice that we were able to overcome the early trouble and have nine or ten players able to step up for us. I don’t know if that’s a new crew that isn’t used to working together or what, I just thought they were inconsistent for the entire game.
California began to take over the game mid-way through the second half when Lock Havens Elizabeth Gabrielle was called for a technical foul at mid-court. At first, the call confused both benches as Gabrielle was called for an illegal defensive move against Bre Dillon.
“I wasn’t really sure what she did at first,” said Vincent. “But apparently it’s a new rule in how she was defending Bre that I wasn’t even really aware of.”
Dillon went to the line for California and made both shots to give the Vulcans an eight-point lead at 36-28.
“It was big for us because it gave us an easy two points and allowed us to keep possession,” said Vincent. “And right after that April Smith started to take over for us. She always plays with such effort and intensity and she was big for us today.”
Smith ended up as one of three California players – Dillon and sophomore Lindsay Johnson – with 12 points on the day. Smith scored all 12 of her points in the second half as she shot 6-for-7 from the field and finished with seven rebounds before fouling out late in the game.
Kim Nowakowski finished with a game-high 12 rebounds while Dillon led all players with six assists.
The win is California’s third in a row and improves the Vulcans to 10-6 overall and 1-1 in the PSAC West.