Mar 15, 2013 2 min read

Despite suffering a pair of lopsided losses to Edinboro this season, the California University women’s basketball team upset the Fighting Scots, 80-72, Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Gannon University’s Hammermill Center in Erie.

The Vulcans (21-8), seeded seventh in the eigth-team regional, will now play No. 6 Glenville State today at 5 p.m. Glenville State, which leads all NCAA divisions in scoring offense at 95.3 points per game, upset No. 3 Shaw (N.C.), the defending national champion, 111-86, yesterday.

Senior guard Stephanie Michael tied her career-high with 25 points, 18 of them coming in the first half. She was eight of 17 from the floor and made five of 10 three-point attempts. In the first two meetings against Edinboro, Michael had a combined 18 points on seven-of-27 shooting.

Junior forward Ashley Hines scored nine points and grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds. Classmate Ryah Gadson added 14 points off the bench, and sophomore Emma Mahady posted 13 points and seven rebounds.

Cal used a 12-3 run over nearly five minutes to take a 32-23 lead with 6 minutes, 42 seconds left in the first half. But Edinboro, which finished the year at 22-7, used an 8-1 rally to cut it to two with 3:55 left before halftime.

Using a 9-0 run late in the first half, Cal built a 42-34 lead at halftime.

The Vulcans led by as many as 15 in the second half – 53-38 with 16:51 remaining – before Edinboro countered with a 14-4 run over the next six minutes to trim the deificit to 57-52 with 10:54 left.

That, though, was the closest Edinboro would get, as Cal shot 47.5 percent (29 of 61) from the field and 47.4 percent (nine of 19) from beyond the arc. Cal U posted a 37-31 rebounding edge.

Edinboro’s Aignee Freeland, the PSAC West Freshman of the Year, finished with 20 points in the losing effort. Darche’ Jackson added 19 points.

Cal and Glenville State met back on Nov. 17, with the Vulcans holding the Pioneers to a season-low for points in a 102-55 win.