Feb 10, 2016 4 min read

CALIFORNIA – When the women’s basketball season began at California University, the Vulcans had only one starter and one other player who logged significant minutes returning from their NCAA Division II national championship team. The remainder of the healthy players on Cal’s small roster were either newcomers or returnees who spent most of last season sitting on the bench, taking notes and watching others play while the outcome of games was still in doubt.

With a roster chalk full of inexperienced players, Cal head coach Jess Strom cautioned back in November that it might take until at least January until her team starts playing like the Vulcans of old.

That time has arrived.

California won its sixth straight game and for the eighth time in nine outings Wednesday night, crushing Slippery Rock 70-45 at the Convocation Center.

The win keeps California (14-4, 17-5) in first place in the PSAC’s West Division, a half-game ahead of Indiana and Gannon, who are each 14-5 in the league.

It’s not hard to figure out why Cal has put together a midseason surge. With the Vulcans, it’s all about defense, so much so that the players admitted the team rarely works on its offense during practice.

“It all started with our ability to start playing consistent defense,” said Cal junior point guard Miki Glenn, who scored 16 points to go with six assists and six of the Vulcans’ 13 steals.

“We didn’t score as much in the first half of the season. When we play good defense, we’re forcing turnovers and getting easy baskets in transition.”

That’s exactly what Cal did against Slippery Rock (7-11, 11-13). The Vulcans scored 29 points off 19 Slippery Rock turnovers.

California’s sticky trapping man-to-man defense – think West Virginia’s pressure defense but only in the half-court – held Slippery Rock to four points (2-for-14 shooting) in the first quarter. The Vulcans led 19-4 after one quarter and 35-12 late in the first half.

“It took some time to get everybody used to playing together and to learn our defense,” Glenn said. “The defense we play is not easy to learn. We’re the only team in the PSAC that plays this style. It’s good to see it coming together. When we’re playing good defense, we force turnovers, we don’t give up three-pointers, we don’t foul.”

That latter aspect is particularly important because Cal is down to eight healthy players. Reserves Natalie Casals and Abbey Sporio, the latter a midseason transfer from Pitt-Johnstown, are injured and were not in uniform. Yet the Vulcans didn’t need their bench as they committed only eight fouls the entire game. Slippery Rock attempted only two free throws.

“I’ve been told I can’t get in foul trouble because we don’t have a player on the bench who plays my position,” said sophomore forward Seairra Barrett, who had a double-double by halftime and finished with a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Barrett helped Cal dominate play under the basket. The Vulcans outrebounded The Rock by 13 and turned 15 offensive rebounds into 20 points, many of those by Barrett and Shatara Parsons, who had 10 points and 14 rebounds.

After leading 37-16 at halftime, Cal continued to dominate in the second half, pushing the lead to 60-31 after three quarters.

With the PSAC women’s tournament being hosted this season by the West Division champion, Cal is four wins away from securing home-court advantage. The Vulcans, however, must do that by winning on the road. Cal plays three of its four remaining regular-season games on the road. The conference title might be decided next Wednesday when Cal plays at Gannon.

“It’s all part of the process. We took some lumps early when we didn’t play well on the road,” Strom said. “We’re finally clicking, playing defense without fouling, turning people over and getting points in transition.”

Lexi Carpenter led three Rock players in double figures with 14 points. Clara Patterson scored 13 points and Mallory Heinle had 10.

Slippery Rock 57, California 48:

Seniors Malcolm Richardson and Cornelius Brown each scored 19 points to lead Slippery Rock to a 57-48 win over California in the men’s game.

Slippery Rock (8-10, 13-11) led 26-16 at halftime as both teams struggled to score. The Rock pushed its lead to as many as 19 points in the second half before Cal (4-14, 7-17) turned to a full-court press and pulled to within eight points on several occasions.

Richard Smith, with 14 points, was the only player to score in double figures for Cal, which has lost six in a row and is in last place in the PSAC’s West Division. The Vulcans made only two of their first 16 shots and 31 percent for the game.