Cold Shooting Costs IUP Opportunity to Clinch PSAC West Regular Season Title

Boxscore and play-by-play

IUP missed out on a chance to clinch its first PSAC West title since 1998-99 and saw its six-game winning streak come to an end with a 63-54 loss to California Saturday night at Hamer Hall.

The Crimson Hawks dropped to 18-7 overall and 8-2 in the PSAC West and saw its division lead over the Vulcans reduced to just one game in the loss column.  California (17-7, 6-3) can pull a half game closer when it plays at Shippensburg on Monday.

IUP can still win the PSAC West title by winning its last two games at home on Wednesday against Shippensburg and at Lock Haven next Saturday.  The Crimson Hawks can also secure the title with a Shippensburg win over California on Monday followed by an IUP victory over the Red Raiders.

IUP entered the game ranked fifth in the NCAA Division II East Region, three spots ahead of California.

IUP was seeking its first season sweep over California since 1999 after snapping a 12-game losing streak against the Vulcans with a 69-50 win at Memorial Field House three weeks ago.  But 28.1 percent shooting from the field, including 2 of 11 from 3-point range, did in the Crimson Hawks.

Staci Heberling led IUP with 13 points followed by Katie Glaws with 11 and Jahzinga Tracey with 10.  Tracey had a rare off night, hitting just 5 of 19 field goal attempts.  She paced the Crimson Hawks with eight rebounds, but IUP was dominated on the boards by a 53-37 margin.

Dani Mills led all scorers with 21 points for California, which kept its hopes alive for a sixth consecutive PSAC West championship.  Bre Dillon had 13 points and seven assists, and Kim Nowakowski contributed 12 points and 16 rebounds.

IUP trailed by as many as 13 in the second half at 52-39 with 5:07 left before nearly pulling out the victory.  A jumper by Tracey got the Crimson Hawks to within 56-52 with 1:14 left, but she missed a wide open layup on IUP's next possession and a 3-point play by Mills with 35 seconds left clinched the win for California.

IUP led 24-22 at halftime despite making only 7 of 27 shots over the opening 20 minutes.  A layup by Kylie Miller gave the Crimson Hawks a four-point lead before the Vulcans went on a 14-2 run to take a 36-28 lead with 13:10 remaining in the game.

A 3-point play by Heberling and a 3-pointer by Miller got IUP back to 36-34 at the 12:31 mark, but California was able to maintain the lead as the Crimson Hawks scored only five points over the next 7:24.

IUP will honor seniors Glaws and Sejla Borovina prior to its 5:30 tipoff against Shippensburg on Wednesday.