• Box Score

ERIE, Pa. (March 4) – The third-seeded California University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team narrowly missed posting an upset of second-seeded Gannon in the quarterfinals of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament, falling 62-57 at the Hammermill Center on Tuesday evening.

With the loss, the Vulcans fall to 18-8 overall while winning seven of their last nine games Cal U, who has been seventh in the Atlantic regional rankings the last two weeks, must now wait to see if it receives one of six at-large berths to the NCAA Tournament. Meanwhile, the Lady Knights, who are the No. 3 team in the country, improve to 26-2 this season and will face Bloomsburg in the semifinals of the PSAC Tournament on Saturday, March 8.

Junior forward Emma Mahady (Albury, Australia/Xavier) scored a game-high 22 points after shooting 8-of-19 from the floor and five-of-five from the free-throw line. She also tied for the team lead with nine rebounds (four offensive) and tallied two assists and two steals on Tuesday. Mahady has averaged 21.3 points over the last three games while playing all 40 minutes in each game.

Classmate Irina Kukolj (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) added 12 points at the Hammermill Center, while senior Ashley Hines (Newark, N.J./Trenton Central) tied Mahady for the team lead with nine rebounds (four offensive).

Cal U made its initial three shot attempts of the game before going four-plus minutes without a basket. However, the Lady Knights missed all six of their shots during that time and the Vulcans took a 10-6 lead on a fastbreak jumper by senior guard Kate Seebohm (Millicent, Australia/Millicent) at the 11:50-mark. Following a Gannon three-pointer, Cal U mounted a 7-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 17-9 with 10:11 left before halftime. The Lady Knights responded with a 12-3 rally over nearly seven minutes to reclaim the lead at 21-20 with 3:17 remaining. The teams later entered the break tied at 24-24 after combining for five lead changes in the first half.

Kukolj made a three-pointer on the opening possession of the second half before Gannon went on a 14-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 38-27 with 16:24 left to play. The Vulcans countered with a 13-4 rally, including seven points by Mahady, to trim the deficit to 42-40 with 11:54 remaining. Following a basket by Gannon with just under 10 minutes left, Cal U reclaimed the lead at 49-47 behind a 9-3 run capped by a traditional three-point play by Mahady with 7:48 left in regulation.

The Lady Knights then scored six-straight points to take a 53-49 lead with 4:58 remaining, while preventing the Vulcans from making a field goal for three-plus minutes. Kukolj snapped the drought with a three-pointer at the 4:34-mark before freshman Miki Glenn (Bridgeport, W.Va./Bridgeport) made a pair of free-throws to give the Vulcans a 54-53 lead with 4:08 left to play. Both teams were held scoreless for over two minutes before Gannon made a pair of free-throw with 1:37 remaining. On the ensuing possession, Mahady converted another basket-and-one play to give Cal U a 57-55 lead with 1:22 left to play. The Lady Knights tied the game with a basket at the 1:07-mark before taking the lead on a free-throw with 40 seconds remaining. Glenn missed a jumper on the next possession before Gannon sealed the victory with four free-throws by two-time, All-PSAC West guard Kelley Sundberg in the final 20 seconds. The Lady Knights scored the last seven points of the game, while the Vulcans missed their final five shots from the floor.

Cal U finished the game shooting 33.3 percent (19-of-57) from the floor while making just 3-of-15 (20.0 percent) from beyond the arc. In comparison, Gannon made 45.5 percent (20-of-44) from the field after shooting at a 57.9 clip in the second half. The Vulcans out-rebounded the Lady Knights by a 38-31 margin behind 16 offensive rebounds, while both teams committed 18 turnovers.

Junior Nettie Blake led Gannon with 15 points and classmate Mollie Sebald finished with 13 points on Tuesday. Senior Jen Papich, the reigning PSAC West Athlete of the Year, added 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists in the victory.

The Vulcans will now have to wait for the NCAA Division II Selection Show to see if their season will continue. The entire 2014 NCAA Division II Tournament field will be released on Sunday, March 9, with a live webcast of the selections on NCAA.com at 10 p.m.