Barrett scores 34 as Cal improves to 22-1
Junior forward Seairra Barrett scored 34 points and California was 16-for-16 from the free-throw line Wednesday night as the Vulcans cruised to an 88-68 victory over Gannon in a PSAC West Division game at the Convocation center.
Cal (16-1, 22-1), which ranked No. 4 in NCAA Division II, extended its winning streak to 11 games and remained undefeated at home. The Vulcans extended their lead in the division to 1½ games as Edinboro was upset at home by Seton Hill and dropped to third place, a half-game behind Indiana.
The Vulcans, who had not played since last Wednesday, wasted no time in taking charge against Gannon (7-11, 7-17). The Vulcans scored the game’s first 14 points and raced to a 31-13 lead after one quarter. After Gannon closed to within 45-36 at halftime, Cal outscored the Golden Knights 33-12 in the third quarter.
Barrett made 14 of 23 shots and also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. She led four Cal players in double figures. Abbey Sporio scored 14 points, Miki Glenn had 12 and Precious Martin 10.
The Vulcans forced 31 Gannon turnovers including 18 in the first half. Cal had 23 steals with Sporio leading with six.
Gannon’s Maggie Mitchell scored 27 points.
Washington & Jefferson 62, Thiel 53: Taylor Cortazzo scored a game-high 21 points and Washington & Jefferson held host Thiel to only 15 second-half points as the Presidents rallied for a 62-53 victory in Presidents’ Athletic Conference action.
W&J (12-3, 15-7), which has won six in a row, trailed for much of the game and didn’t take the lead for good until Danielle Parker’s layup gave the Presidents a 51-50 advantage with 6:05 remaining. Parker scored 10 points and helped W&J dominated the boards with a game-high 13 rebounds. The Presidents outrebounded the Tomcats 49-33.
Rachel Bellhy scored 13 points for W&J. The Presidents held Thiel to seven fourth-quarter points. The Tomcats did not make a field goal in the final 8:51 as W&J closed the game on a 9-2 run.
Danyelle Lucido led Thiel (2-13, 5-17) with 14 points.
Waynesburg 76, Chatham 62: Katie Gehlmann scored a game-high 21 points and Waynesburg used a big rebounding advantage to defeat host Chatham 76-62 in the PAC.
Waynesburg (9-6, 13-9) used a 12-0 run early in the game to build a 35-29 halftime lead and pulled away in the second half. Gehlmann led four Yellow Jackets in double figures. Rachel Eng came off the bench to score 13 points, Addy Kentzer had 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Monica Starre scored 10 points and 11 rebounds. Waynesburg held a 56-41 edge in rebounds.
Katelyn Sieg, with 16 points, was the leading scorer for Chatham (5-10, 10-11).
Men’s results
Gannon 74, California 67: Matthew Dogan scored a game-high 23 points and Gannon defeated California 74-67 in a PSAC West Division game at the Convocation Center, snapping the Vulcans’ six-game homecourt winning streak.
The loss hurts California’s chances of making the PSAC tournament. The Vulcans (5-12, 8-15) began the night in seventh place in the West with the top six teams advancing to the conference tournament.
The game was tied 36-36 at halftime but Gannon (13-5, 15-7) opened the second half with an 11-0 run. Cal battled back and twice pulled to within two points, the last time coming after a dunk by Tony Richardson that made the score 65-63 with 2:53 left. Gannon’s Jimmy Berger, who scored 10 points, answered with a three-pointer and the Golden Knights made four free throws down the stretch.
Cordell Smith was Cal’s leading scorer with 15 points. Luka Andjusic had 14 points and Richardson 13.
All of Gannon’s 74 points were scored by their five starters.
Thiel 90, Washington & Jefferson 74: Josh Lumbus scored 17 points and all five of Thiel’s starters scored in double figures during the Tomcats’ 90-74 victory over visiting Washington & Jefferson in a PAC game.
W&J (2-13, 2-20) led 39-38 at halftime and Thiel (9-6, 13-7) didn’t take control of the game until putting together a 10-0 run to pen a 15-point lead with less than seven minutes remaining.
The Presidents’ Brian Graytok scored a game-high 21 points to go with six assists and six rebounds. Sean Stinelli was the only other W&J player to score in double figures as he finished with 18.
Chatham 87, Waynesburg 85, OT: Josh Randall came off the bench to score 20 points, including two free throws that gave Chatham the lead for good in overtime, as the Cougars snapped a six-game losing streak by defeating visiting Waynesburg 87-85 in a PAC game.
Waynesburg (4-11, 6-16), which has lost four in a row, forced overtime at 70-70 when Brennan Smith made a jumper as time expired in regulation. Waynesburg scored the first five points of overtime but then went cold the rest of the way. Randall made a jumper that tied the score at 77-77 and followed that with two free throws that gave Chatham (5-10, 9-13) the lead for good.
Jon Knab scored a game-high 29 points for Waynesburg, which couldn’t overcome 24 turnovers. Smith and Marques Wallace each had 13 points and Cam Auld had 10 for the Yellow Jackets.