Cal shows ‘guts,’ comes back for win over Edinboro
California’s Miki Glenn dribbles the ball Saturday during a PSAC West game against Edinboro. Glenn scored a team-high 20 points.
Courtesy of Jeff Helsel/California University California's Shatara Parsons pulls up for a shot Saturday against Edinboro.
California’s Shatara Parsons tries to dribble between Edinboro defenders Saturday.
CALIFORNIA – The way California University women’s basketball coach Jess Strom saw it at halftime Saturday afternoon, her team was being beaten at its own game by Edinboro.
Again.
California, ranked No. 5 in NCAA Division II, has built a well-deserved reputation of playing with unyielding tenacity on defense and aggressiveness on offense.
And for the second time this season, Edinboro had taken away both of those Cal traits as the Fighting Scots were holding a seven-point halftime lead in the showdown for first place in the PSAC’s West Division.
“It was simple. We needed to show more guts,” Strom said.
She didn’t need any numbers to support her case, though they were there on the statistics sheet. Cal had attempted only three free throws in the first half and grabbed just three offensive rebounds.
Those were startling numbers for a veteran California team.
If the Vulcans were to avenge their only loss of the season, they had 20 minutes in which to do so and they needed to start playing Cal-like basketball, Strom said.
The halftime message was understood.
Cal went to the free-throw line 30 times (making 22) in the second half, snagged seven offensive rebounds and got some key contributions from its bench in the third quarter as the Vulcans rallied for a 75-71 victory at the Convocation Center.
The win moved Cal into sole possession of first place in the West with a 14-1 record in the conference. The Vulcans are 20-1 overall. Edinboro, which defeated Cal 71-54 on the Fighting Scots’ home court earlier this month, fell to 13-2 in the PSAC and 17-4 overall.
“For sure, Edinboro is aggressive, just like we are, so they’ll foul you,” Strom said. “We had to get past them when we had the ball. They were making us shoot jump shots in the first half. We made an adjustment and started to drive to the basket and we also crashed the offensive boards.”
Three of those people doing those things were forwards Precious Martin and Shatara Parsons and senior point guard Miki Glenn. Martin scored eight of her 10 points in the third quarter when Cal outscored Edinboro 30-17 to turn a seven-point halftime deficit into a 54-48 advantage. Cal protected the lead down the stretch as Parsons scored 10 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter and Glenn finished the game 13-for-13 at the free-throw line. Glenn led the Vulcans with 20 points.
“We started slow again and I don’t know why,” Strom said. “The second quarter was really slow. Edinboro is a really good team and no doubt will be competing for the PSAC championship.”
Edinboro was hurt when center Ciara Rosten drew her fourth foul midway through the third quarter. That came during a 14-2 run by Cal that gave the Vulcans a 40-35 lead. Rosten had scored 13 points to that point. She finished with 18.
Guard Katie Fischer kept Edinboro within striking distance by scoring a game-high 23 points, but it was Rosten’s fourth foul that gave Cal the break it needed. It opened room inside for Cal to drive to the basket and for Parsons and clean up any missed shots. Her three-point play early in the fourth quarter came off a rebound and gave Cal a 57-51 lead. Parsons had another putback for a basket that gave Cal a 70-65 edge with only 2:14 to play.
“We didn’t panic,” Parsons said. “Our coach doesn’t allow us to panic. We knew at halftime that we had to rebound better and play better defense.”
Glenn, an 88-percent free-throw shooter, sealed the victory by making four consecutive fouls shots in the final 29 seconds.
“You need to have a lead when you play Cal because they put the ball in Glenn’s hands,” Edinboro coach Stan Swank said. “We had the lead at our place. That makes a huge difference.”
Cal’s Seairra Barrett had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Though Cal has the lead in the West, the Vulcans and Fighting Scots could meet two more times, in the PSAC and NCAA tournaments.
“Both teams are very good,” Swank said. “It’s fun to watch them play because there is so much talent on the floor. … Of course, we want to win every game but our kids have to look at the big picture. There are other games to play and hopefully we’ll see Cal again.”