×

16th-ranked Cal beats LHU women

LOCK HAVEN — Facing the once-beaten and nationally-ranked California women’s basketball team, Lock Haven University coach Jennifer Smith and assistant coach Zack Smith, had a plan to attempt to handle the powerful Vulcans.

For the first half and most of the third period, the Bald Eagles played toe-to-toe with the highly-ranked Vulcans before Cal pulled away to a 65-49 win in PSAC hoop action.

“We played a 2-3 (zone) today,” said Smith. “We didn’t feel they shot the ball real well from behind the arc. We packed it in and it worked. They were only five for 25 and we’ll take that anytime. When you play the No. 16 team in the country and you compete with them, you have to be happy about that. That is what today was about. We didn’t back down from them. They are a very tough team and I felt we played right with them.”

The two teams played through three early ties until Cal put together a 7-2 run to close out the first period for a 14-9 lead.

After a first period that saw both teams struggle somewhat, both clubs picked up the intensity in the second period that saw both squads score 18 points, Cal maintaining its 5-point advantage as the Vulcans took a 32-27 lead to the locker room at the break.

Obviously bothered by LHU’s defense in the first half, the Vulcans started hitting from the outside, outscoring the Bald Eagles 16-9 in the third period to take a 48-36 lead heading home.

One factor that figured in during the final minutes might have been fatigue, although Smith liked the way her team finished the game.

“We had a lot of girls play a lot of minutes today,” Smith said. “We shortened our bench rotation and I think we finished strong at the end. I felt we turned it back on a little bit during the last three minutes of the game and that was good to see. We just didn’t go away. It was about getting better and being more competitive.”

Two combined stat categories pretty much told the final story as the Lady Eagles were guilty of 18 turnovers while the Vulcans yanked down 19 offensive rebounds, giving them 37 additional opportunities to score.

“We turned the ball over too many times and gave up too many offensive rebounds,” said Smith. “Those were the two areas that really hurt us. They had 28 offensive rebounds against Slippery Rock and we worked hard to just keep that to 19.”

Lock Haven boasted three players in double figures in the scorebook as Rileigh Devine led the way with an even dozen, while Bink Redman and Taylor Leidy tossed in ten apiece.

For Cal, Seairre Barrett led all scorers in the game with 24 points.

California 65, LHU 49

CALIFORNIA (13-1, 7-1 PSAC)

Seairra 11-21 2-2 24; Jiahna Floodfrancisc 4-10 2-2 11; Gina Vallecorsa 4-11 0-0 8; Bianca Jasper 3-11 0-0 8; Abbey Sporio 2-7 0-0 4; DJ Hahn 1-7 0-0 3; Ahmya Woodyard 1-2 0-0 3; Shauna Harrison 1-1 0-0 2; BeBe George 1-1 0-0 2; Brionna Allen 0-2 0-0 0; Lauren Bennett 0-0 0-0 0; Emily Suckling 0-2 0-0 0; Jamiere Jefferies 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-75 4-4 65.

LOCK HAVEN (8-7, 4-5 PSAC)

Rileigh Devine 3-11 4-4 12; Taylor Leidy 2-7 6-6 10; Bink Redman 5-13 0-2 10; Ahnera Parker 4-8 1-3 9; J. Shelton-Burleigh 1-5 0-0 2; Nadia Romanchock 1-3 1-2 4; Kendra Stanford 1-6 0-0 2; Jordyn Kloster 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-54 12-17 49.

California 14 18 16 17 — 65

Lock Haven 9 18 9 13 — 49

3-point goals: Cal 5-24 (Jasper 2-6, Woodyard 1-1, Floodfrancis 1-5, Hahn 1-5, Sporio 0-1, Suckling 0-1, Vallecorsa 0-4), LHU 3-12 (Devine 2-6, Romanchock 1-2, Leidy 0-1, Stanford 0-1, Shelton-Burleigh 0-2). Fouled out: Cal-none; LHU-none. Rebounds: Cal 49 (Vallecorsa 9), LHU 38 (Redman 6, Parker 6). Assists: Cal 14 (Vallecorsa 6), LHU 6 (Leidy 3, Redman 3). Total fouls: Cal 17, LHU 8. Technical fouls: Cal-none; LHU-none. A: 98.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today