Nov 20, 2018 4 min read

CALIFORNIA – There are words that opposing guards can use to adequately describe the defensive play of California University’s Abbey Sporio and Bianca Jasper. Annoying, pesky and frustrating quickly come to mind.

Sporio and Jasper were all of those Tuesday night as California played some stellar half-court defense and received another spectacular offensive game from redshirt senior forward Seairra Barrett to defeat Central State, 75-62, at the Convocation Center.

California (4-0) remains undefeated, though the Vulcans had to overcome a 12-point first-half deficit to beat Central State (2-3), a school located in Wilberforce, Ohio.

Central State entered the night averaging 71 points per game and boasted guard Takyra Gilbert, who was averaging 20 points per contest. Gilbert’s smallest output had been 18 points.

Slowing Gilbert was the focal points for the Cal defense, especially for Sporio, a senior guard from Elizabeth Forward, who drew the assignment of playing Gilbert in the Vulcans’ man-to-man-defense. Sporio was up to the task as it didn’t take long for her to realize that her sticky defense had gotten the best of Central State’s leading scorer.

“It was in the first minute of the game,” Sporio said. “I took the ball away from her and went for a layup. When you mess with somebody and get in her head right off the bat, then you know that you’ve thrown them off their game.”

Gilbert did not score in the first half and finished the game with only seven points. She had five more turnovers (7) than field goals (2). Sporio, meanwhile, had five steals.

“We talked about (Gilbert) a lot in practice,” Sporio said. “Coach told me that it would be my responsibility to shut her down.”

Cal’s trapping half-court defense forced 27 Central State turnovers and enabled the Vulcans to attempt 18 more shots than their opponents despite being outrebounded.

Sporio even contributed mightily on offense, scoring 13 points on 6-for-8 shooting. It was her first double-digit scoring output of the season.

“That was the best game I’ve seen Abbey play,” California coach Jess Strom said. “She always plays well on defense but tonight she was crashing the boards (six rebounds), she was scoring and she even made an outside shot.

“Abbey’s defense, she does that constantly in practice. She’s naturally gifted with her speed and fast hands.”

Central State played some good defense of its own early in the game. The Marauders’ 2-3 zone had Cal shooting from long-range and in prior seasons that usually spelled doom for the Vulcans. Central State used an 11-0 run to take a 20-8 lead in the first quarter as Cal attempted seven three-pointers in the opening 10 minutes.

Strom said her team might have been focused too much on the upcoming Thanksgiving break instead of the game against the Marauders. But once the Vulcans gained some momentum, they feasted on Central State’s defense.

Jiahna Flood-Francis made a three-pointer and scored on a layup after a turnover late in the first quarter, which ended with Cal trailing 22-13. In the second quarter, the Vulcans started to pick apart Central State’s zone with short, crisp passes, which opened up driving lanes to the basket.

The Vulcans took the lead for good at 34-33 on a driving basket by Flood-Francis, who finished with 15 points. Cal led 38-35 at halftime.

“I don’t care who gives us secondary scoring,” Strom said. “It can be a different person every game. It was good to see (Flood-Francis) hit some shots because she put in the work during the summer. We know Seairra is going to get her points.”

When Central State abandoned it zone, Cal was able to get to the rim with regularity. The Vulcans were too quick off the dribble for the Marauders. Central State had no answer for Barrett, who made 13 of 25 shots and contributed four steals on defense. Barrett finished with a game-high 28 points and is averaging 27.7 per outing for the season, one year after taking a medical redshirt because of an injured shoulder.

The Vulcans led by as many 19 points in the fourth quarter.

Charvelle Cox led Central State with 14 points on 7-for-8 shooting and had a game-high 10 rebounds.

“It’s tough to play right before a break,” Strom said. “As a player, you always look forward to Thanksgiving break. After the first quarter, we were OK.”