Feb 20, 2016 4 min read

The California University women’s basketball team used a big fourth quarter Saturday afternoon to rally for a 65-51 victory over host Mercyhurst and clinch at least a share of the PSAC West Division title.

The Vulcans (17-4, 20-5), who extended their winning streak to nine games, can clinch the outright title with a victory Wednesday at home against Edinboro. The West Division winner will have home-court advantage throughout the PSAC tournament.

Cal, however, had its hands full against Mercyhurst (11-10, 13-14). The Lakers led 26-22 at halftime and 46-42 after three quarters. The Vulcans finished with a flurry, closing the game on a 13-1 run over the final 3:55.

Shatara Parsons, who scored 14 points, gave Cal the lead for good at 50-48 by making a jumps shot. The Vulcans still led by two points at 52-50 with less than four minutes to play when they started to pull away.

Miki Glenn led Cal with 19 points, five steals and four assists. Precious Martin scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and Paige Wright had 10 points.

Natalie Piagesi scored 17 points for Mercyhurst.

Wash & Jeff 80, Bethany 68: Beka Bellhy scored 34 points and Washington & Jefferson wrapped up the regular-season with an 80-68 come-from-behind victory over host Bethany in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference game.

W&J finished 16-2 in the conference and will take a 21-4 record into the PAC tournament. The Presidents have a bye into the semifinals Friday night and will play either Geneva, Chatham or Waynesburg.

Bethany (6-12, 8-17) led 39-34 at halftime, but W&J opened the second half with an 18-3 run and maintained the lead for the remainder of the game. Bellhy scored seven points during the pivotal stretch.

Bellhy made 12 of 21 shots and converted all 10 of her free throws. She also grabbed nine rebounds.

Bethany did get to within three points twice, including early in the fourth quarter, but W&J secured the win with a 15-6 run during the middle of the final stanza.

Rachel Bellhy scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for W&J. Taylor Cortazzo had 12 points.

Kelsa Daughtery led Bethany with 28 points.

Waynesburg 69, Chatham 56: Addy Knetzer continued her strong second half of the season by scoring 15 points and grabbing 12 rebounds as Waynesburg defeated host Chatham, 69-56, in a PAC game.

Waynesburg (11-7, 13-12) will enter the PAC tournament as the No. 3 seed and will host either Geneva or Chatham in a quarterfinal game Wednesday night (7 p.m.).

The Yellow Jackets forged a 39-26 lead at halftime. Katie Gehlmann was the only other Waynesburg player to score in double figures with 10 points.

Katelyn Sieg led Chatham (6-12, 10-15) with 15 points.

Men’s results

Waynesburg 68, Chatham 63: B.J. Durham scored 17 points and D.J. Ritchie had 15 as Waynesburg snapped a two-game losing streak with a 69-63 road win over Chatham in a PAC game.

Waynesburg, which finished the regular season 10-8 in the conference and 10-15 overall, took the lead for good at 40-39 on a basket by Tim Plansinis with 13:41 remaining. The Yellow Jackets pulled away to lead by as many as 10 points down the stretch.

Chatham (4-14, 4-21) was paced by Alex Schoppen, who scored 13 points.

Mercyhurst 65, California 38: Jean Onana scored 14 points as Mercyhurst sent California to its ninth consecutive loss, 65-38, in a PSAC West Division game in Erie.

Mercyhurst (14-7, 17-8) held California to only 15 first-half points as the Lakers built a 20-point lead at halftime.

Cal (4-17, 7-20) shot only 36 percent from the field and committed 18 turnovers that led to 19 Mercyhurst points. Nate Bellhy and Daniel Sapp were the only Cal players to score in double figures, each with 10 points.

Bethany 88, Wash & Jeff 69: Antonio Rudolph and Javonte Trujillo each scored 17 points to power Bethany to an 88-69 victory over visiting Bethany in a PAC game.

Bethany (12-6, 16-9) shot 53 percent for the game and made eigh three-pointers. Calique Jones (13 points) and Liam Davis (10 points) also hit double figures for the Bison.

W&J finished the regular season 1-17 in the conference and 1-24 overall. The Presidents, who played only six players, received 17 points each from Joe Satira and Gianni Burane. Brian Lindquist scored 14 points and Brian Graytok had 10.