Defending champ Cal rallies, avoids upset in quarters
California Vulcans head coach Jess Strom talks to her players during a time out during a game with Edinboro at Hamer Hall Tuesday.
California’s Shatara Parsons gets by Edinboro’s Aignee’ Freeland Tuesday at Hamer Hall. Parson scored 11 points in helping Cal beat Edinboro and advance to the PSAC semifinals.
Cal’s Seairra Barrett drives to the basket as Maggie Moore of Edinboro defends Tuesday in the PSAC quarterfinals at Hamer Hall.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter California Vulcans Precious Martin beats Edinboros Aignee' Freeland to the rebound during a game with Edinboro at Hamer Hall on Tuesday, March 1, 2016.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter California Vulcans Miki Glenn tries to take a shot as Edinboros Michelle Jahn tries to block during a game with Edinboro at Hamer Hall on Tuesday, March 1, 2016.
CALIFORNIA – With less than four minutes remaining in the third quarter Tuesday night, the California University women’s basketball team – the defending NCAA Division II national champion – was on the verge of being run out of its own gym in its first postseason game, the PSAC tournament quarterfinals.
The Vulcans trailed hot-shooting Edinboro by 10 points and needed something to quickly change the momentum and put some life into the crowd at Hamer Hall.
The Vulcans didn’t turn to do-it-all point guard Miki Glenn, the PSAC’s leading scorer. Instead, they turned to senior wing Paige Wright, a player of modest scoring credentials who had all of five points in two regular-season games against Edinboro.
Wright prevented the game from getting away from Cal by making a clutch three-pointer from the top of the key to pull the Vulcans to within seven points. Moments later, Wright made another three-pointer with four seconds left in the third quarter, pulling Cal to within 57-53.
Wright’s momentum-shifting bombs proved to be pivotal as Cal went on to dominate the fourth quarter, holding Edinboro to only 10 points, and rally for a 75-67 victory.
The win, the 11th in a row for Cal (22-5), means the Vulcans will host the PSAC Final Four this weekend. Indiana (20-7) will play West Chester (21-6) at 1 p.m. Saturday in one semifinal with Cal, the West Division champion, facing East Division runner-up Shippensburg (21-6) at 3:30 p.m. The championship game will be played Sunday at 3 p.m. All games will be at Hamer Hall because the Convocation Center has been booked with another event.
For much of Tuesday, it appeared the Final Four might be played at Indiana instead of Cal. The Vulcans had the look of a one-and-done team until Wright’s shooting woke them up. Once they gained the momentum, the Vulcans never relinquished it. They dominated with an aggressive dose of defense and offensive rebounding in the final 10 minutes.
“We gave up a lot of points,” Cal coach Jess Strom said. “Edinboro did a good job making adjustments. They knew where to get the ball.
“It helped that we hit some big shots. Paige made two of them. We could have been down 15 at that point.”
Edinboro (20-10), which had been blown out by Cal, 83-52, in the regular-season finale last Wednesday, shot 67 percent from the field and made six of 10 three-pointers while building a 38-33 halftime lead.
“I don’t think we played with a purpose against Cal last week,” said Edinboro’s Stan Swank, the winningest coach in PSAC history. “Cal had a purpose in that game. They wanted to win the West and played that way. We played with a purpose tonight.”
Cal held Edinboro to 0-for-9 shooting from three-point range last week, but the Fighting Scots seemed to make everything they shot from long range in the first 20 minutes of the rematch. Freshman guard Michelle Jahn scored 15 of her game-high 24 points in the first half. She fouled out in the fourth quarter and Edinboro’s offense exited with her.
“We were thinking we had to pressure them so they can’t shoot from long range,” Strom said. “Edinboro is a good three-point shooting team. They beat Mercyhurst (in the first round) by shooting the three. Our game plan was to pressure the three-point shooters but that didn’t work.”
Edinboro used a 6-0 spurt to build a 51-41 lead in the third quarter, and it was beginning to look like desperate times for the Vulcans. That’s when Wright, who matched her career-high with 14 points, started making shots.
“I sat out the whole second quarter with two fouls, so I knew I had to knock down a couple of shots in the third quarter,” said Wright, a native of Fort Wayne, Ind. “I’m glad my teammates have trust in me to get me the ball.”
Wright’s three-pointer with four seconds left in the third quarter swung the momentum, and Cal started the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run to take a 61-57 lead. Precious Martin, who led four Vulcans in double figures with 20 points, had four points during the spurt.
“Going into the fourth quarter, we said this game will be won by whoever wanted it more. You could see our energy level go up,” said Strom, who improved to 42-7 in her last 49 games against PSAC opponents.
Wright made one more basket, posting up in the middle of the lane and turning to score to put Cal ahead 67-61.
After that, the Vulcans tried to keep the ball in the hands of Glenn, who scored 18 points. She made 11 of 12 free throws. The rest of the Vulcans were only 6-for-15.
“Our kids wanted a challenge,” Swank said. “We could have laid down and said, ‘Beat us by 30.’ But, hey, Cal’s a good team. They’re the defending national champions.”
Shatara Parsons scored 11 points for Cal. Katie Fischer scored 17 for Edinboro.