Nov 13, 2022 4 min read

In a meeting of NCAA Tournament teams from last year, the No. 7 California University women’s basketball team suffered an 80-73 loss to No. 15 Charleston (W.Va.) on Saturday afternoon at the Wehrle Innovation Center.

With the loss, the Vulcans move to 1-1 this season while playing at the MEC/PSAC Challenge. Cal and Charleston have met six times over the last four years, including in the 2019 and 2021 NCAA Tournament.

Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles improve to 2-0 overall after repeating as MEC Champions last year.

Senior Dejah Terrell led the team with 25 points on 11-of-25 from the floor. She also added three rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal on Saturday. In 32 games with the program, Terrell has scored at least 20 points 11 times.

Junior Halle Herrington set a career high with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including four-of-six from beyond the arc. She also tallied four rebounds, five assists, one block and two steals while playing all 40 minutes at Charleston.

Senior Ciaira Loyd posted 12 points and five assists, while junior transfer Jordan Smith finished with five points, six rebounds and three assists.

ONU tops W&J

Ohio Northern gained an early lead and withstood a W&J comeback attempt to record a 50-43 in a low-scoring defensive battle Saturday afternoon as part of the Springhill Suites Tip-off Tournament at Salvitti Family Gymnasium.

Sophomore guard Bryn Bezjak turned in a game-high 18 points to lead W&J. Bezjak drained three-of-six three-point attempts and added four steals in the setback.

Adalynn Cherry joined Bezjak in double figures, as the sophomore finished with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field.

W&J stops LaRoche

Sophomore guard/forward Meghan Dryburgh finished with a game-high 18 points to pace the Washington & Jefferson women’s basketball team in a 72-54 victory over visiting La Roche University in the final game of the Springhill Suites Tip-off Tournament at Salvitti Family Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon.

The win improves W&J to 2-1 overall while La Roche falls to 0-2.

Following a low-scoring effort in a loss to Ohio Northern on Saturday, W&J used a fast start to record a wire-to-wire win over La Roche. The Presidents opened by scoring the game’s first 12 points before taking a 23-12 lead after a quarter of play. Sophomore guard Adalynn Cherry drained a pair of early triples to give W&J the double-digit advantage. La Roche responded late in the quarter to climb back within six points (18-12) but W&J responded with the final five points of the opening quarter.

Men’s Results Cal falls

Facing one of the top programs in the country, the California University men’s basketball team suffered a 94-85 loss at No. 8 West Liberty in non-conference action during the final day of the Mountain East Conference /Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tip-Off Challenge on Saturday night.

With the loss, the Vulcans move to 1-1 overall. Meanwhile, the defending-MEC Champion Hilltoppers, which were tabbed as the preseason favorites in the MEC poll, improve to 2-0 this year.

Sophomore Keith Palek III paced the team with a career-high 22 points, marking back-to-back 20-point performances to open the season. He also tallied six rebounds, one steal and one assist. Freshman transfer KJ McClurg registered 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and connected on three shots from beyond the arc. Additionally, McClurg notched seven boards and five assists.

Redshirt junior Jermaine Hall, Jr. posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds with a pair of steals. Sophomore transfer Cam Polak collected 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.

W&J loses

The Washington & Jefferson men’s basketball team dropped an 81-73 decision to home-standing Carnegie Mellon University in a non-conference game Saturday at Wiegand Gymnasium in Pittsburgh.

Kyran Mitchell paced the Presidents with 18 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals in the loss. J.R. Mazza finished with 16 points, five rebounds and four assists. Isaiah Langston also reached double digits in scoring with 11 points.

W&J was unable to secure the victory despite a sizable advantage in turnovers. The Presidents forced the Tartans into 29 turnovers while committing just 13. W&J outscored CMU 28-11 in points off of turnovers.

Despite the disparity in shot attempts, both teams made 27 field goals. The Presidents also held a 40-26 advantage in points in the paint but CMU connected on 11 three-point field goals and converted 16-of-21 free throw attempts. W&J converted on just 52.2 percent (12-23) of its shots at the charity stripe.