Contact Us
Directory
Site Map
Search
IUP Home 

  IUP Crimson Hawks

HTTP/1.1 404 Object Not Found Server: Microsoft-IIS/5.0 Date: Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:29:11 GMT Connection: close Content-Type: text/html

404 Object Not Found

IUP Advances to PSAC Championship Game by Handling Millersville in Semifinal Contest

Boxscore and play-by-play

IUP moved into the PSAC women’s basketball championship game for the third time in school history with a 71-53 semifinal victory at Millersville on Friday night.

Jahzinga Tracey scored 22 points and Kierstin Filla added a career-high 15 as the Crimson Hawks (21-8) advanced to the final on Saturday against PSAC West rival California (21-8), which downed East Stroudsburg, 59-52, in the first semifinal.

The championship game will also be played at Millersville's Pucillo Gym with a 7:00 tipoff.

IUP is in the final for the first time since 1999 and is seeking its second PSAC title in school history, having won its only league crown in 1988, while California is aiming for its fifth conference championship in the past six years.

The winner of the championship game gains an automatic berth in the NCAA Division II East Region tournament, but with their wins on Friday, both teams are all but assured of earning postseason bids.

With her 22 points, Tracey increased her total to 543 and broke the IUP single season record of 537 set by Jacquie Negrelli in 2001-02.  Tracy has scored 20 or more points in nine of the past 11 games.

Filla eclipsed her previous high point total of 13 established in the regular season finale at Lock Haven.  She added four assists and four steals while converting 7 of 9 field goal attempts. 

Kylie Miller and Lauren Fisher both had 11 points for IUP, with Fisher hitting 3 of 5 from 3-point range, handing out five assists and pulling down a team-high seven rebounds. 

Tracey matched Filla with four steals as the Crimson Hawks made 15 swipes in the game.

Ashley Romanoski led Millersville with 15 points, followed by Jenna Philo with 12 and Gladine St. Julien with 11.  The Marauders, who committed 30 turnovers in the game, finished their season at 17-11.

IUP never trailed after taking a 4-3 lead on a layup by Tracey 2:40 into the contest.  The Crimson Hawks led by as many as 14 in the first half at 22-8 before settling for a 39-28 lead at the break.   Tracey had 12 points in the opening 20 minutes.

The lead never dipped below double digits in the second half, with IUP scoring the first points of the stanza on a jumper by Miller and a 3-pointer by Fisher to build a 44-28 advantage. 

A long range shot by Romanoski got Millersville to within 10 at 51-41 with 9:36 remaining before the Crimson Hawks went on a game deciding 9-2 run, sparked by another 3-pointer by Fisher and a basket and two free throws by Tracey.

Consecutive baskets by Fisher and Tracey, both off IUP steals, gave the Crimson Hawks their biggest lead of the night at 68-49 with 2:55 left.

IUP and California split two games during the regular season.  On January 27, the Crimson Hawks snapped a 12-game losing streak to the Vulcans with a 69-50 victory in Indiana.  California then posted a 63-54 victory on its home court on February 17. 

This is the first time that IUP and California have met in the PSAC playoffs.

<back to top>