Cal Women win second-straight PSAC title, 62-52
Darnell Graham
California University of Pa.’s Miki Glenn (21) pushes the ball in with her left hand with little defense from IUP’s Megan Smith (42) during the PSAC Basketball Championship game held at California University on Sunday.
Cal-U Paige Wright (1) scores a successful layup despite IUP’s Marina Wareham’s (10) failed attempt to block during the PSAC Basketball Championship games held at California, University on March 6, 2016.
Darnell Graham
California University of Pa.’s Seairra Barrett (5) goes up for a layup against IUP’s Zhane Brooks (15) during the championship game of the PSAC women’s basketball tournament at Cal U’s Hamer Hall on Sunday. The Vulcans, who defeated IUP 62-52, were given a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Tournament and will travel to Richmond, Va., for the Atlantic Regional beginning on Friday.
CALIFORNIA — For the second straight season and a PSAC record-tying sixth time, the California University of Pa. women’s basketball squad won their conference title after a hard-fought 62-52 victory over rival Indiana Sunday afternoon at Hamer Hall.
For the first time in four attempts, the Vulcans (24-5) defeated its PSAC West rival in the title game and its six PSAC crowns ties them with Shippensburg in the conference.
“A lot of ups and downs this year, but I couldn’t be prouder of our team these last couple of weeks,” Cal coach Jess Strom said. “Coming into the season we didn’t have a lot of experience, but they responded all year long. We just needed game-time experience for our young girls. They fought the whole season and its nice get this title.”
With the win, Cal, who has won 12 in a row and was playing in its 14th PSAC title game, gets the automatic qualifier out of the PSAC into the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region.
The Vulcans, who are the defending D-II champions, will start their title defense over the weekend on the road at a site to be determined.
Cal’s Miki Glenn was named PSAC playoff tournament MVP, collecting 30 points and had eight of the Vulcans’ 17 points in the final quarter. The junior guard also was a perfect 10-for-10 at the free throw line.
“We beat a really good team and we held their best player to just one point,” Glenn said. “I’m so proud of our team. We lost so many players from last year and it took us a while to finally mesh on both ends of the floor. This title is special for us.”
The Vulcans controlled the glass and brought down 18 offensive rebounds. Shatara Parsons added a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Seairra Barrett collected nine points and 12 rebounds.
Zhane Brooks and Megan Smith garnered 17 points apiece for the Crimson Hawks (21-8), while Carolyn Appleby scored 15 off the bench.
“Cal is a great team,” IUP coach Tom McConnell said. “We got off to a slow start, but we never gave up. We are disappointed, but we have nothing to hang our heads about. Cal is very athletic and they won the battles in the paint. We couldn’t stop Glenn and we had too many lulls on offense.”
Cal held a 45-42 lead going into the fourth quarter, and extended their advantage with an 11-5 rally. After two baskets by IUP, the Vulcans secured the victory with a 6-1 run. All six points were scored by Glenn at the charity stripe.
“Our main focus was to take away their catch-and-shoots,” Glenn said. “We always talk about defense, but I thought our offense was pretty on today. I just try to get my drives and create offense out there. We have a lot of trust out there and we attacked their zone.”
Glenn scored the first four points for Cal in the opening quarter and the Vulcans garnered separation from an 11-6 lead with nine unanswered points to end the quarter.
Trailing by 14 points, IUP rebounded in a huge way with a 19-0 run to start the second frame. Brooks and Smith collected nine points each in the spree for the visitors.
Despite being shut down on offense in the first seven minutes of the second quarter, the Vulcans’ offense awoke, ending the period on an 11-4 run for a 31-29 lead at halftime.
“They like to shoot the three and we knew we had to defend that,” Strom said. “Our communication was very good on defense and we made some good switches. We guarded the three-point line and we got some mismatches in the paint with our size.”
In the third quarter, the Vulcans opened up the period with a 9-2 spree and then increased its lead to 42-34 after a mid-range jumper by Morgan Jennings.
IUP ended the period on an 8-3 run to bring the gap down to 45-42 going into the fourth.
“When they went to the zone in the second half, I got a lot more chances inside for rebounds,” Parsons said. “I just wanted to be a difference maker in the final 10 minutes. I hit some difficult shots and some fade-aways, but I always practice those types of crazy shots in practice. We really wanted to win this one.”