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March 6, 2009
IUP will play for its third consecutive PSAC women's basketball championship following a 79-65 victory over host West Chester in a semifinal contest Friday night at Hollinger Field House. The Crimson Hawks (24-5) will take on California in Saturday's 7 p.m. title game. The Vulcans (26-3) advanced to the final with a 67-57 win over Millersville in the first semifinal contest. IUP has won eight straight PSAC tournament games over the past three years. Jahzinga Tracey and Eryn Withers both scored 17 points to lead four IUP players in double figures in the win over the Golden Rams. Kylie Miller hit three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points while Staci Heberling added 12 and tied Tracey for the team lead in rebounds with seven. Kierstin Filla and Lacey Claar both distributed five assists. The Crimson Hawks shot 53.7 percent from the field and held a 34-25 advantage on the boards. The 17 points for Tracey moved her into a tie for seventh place in PSAC history with 2,050 career points and she moved within 11 rebounds of passing Sherri Leysock for the all-time IUP record and ninth place in the conference record book. Tracey also had three of IUP's 13 steals versus West Chester and has . Dana Weems led West Chester (20-9) with 19 points, followed by Janelle Garber with 14 and Megan Stewart with 12. Neither team was able to build more than a four-point lead over a tight opening 14 minutes before IUP went on the run that decided the game. Trailing 25-21, the Crimson Hawks outscored the Golden Rams 18-2 over the final 6:20 of the first half to take a 39-27 lead into halftime. Heberling put IUP in front with a jumper at the 5:08 mark, and a 3-pointer by Miller and two free throws by Tracey over the next 2:14 gave the Crimson Hawks a 32-25 lead. West Chester temporarily stopped the run with two free throws before IUP finished the first half scoring with two charity tosses by Claar, a 3-pointer by Filla and a layup by Withers. The first half featured five ties and eight lead changes before the Crimson Hawks pulled away. West Chester was never able to trim its deficit below double figures during the entire second half. Both of IUP's conference championships the past two seasons have come over California, including a 63-53 win at Millersville in 2007 and a 67-63 victory at home last March when the Crimson Hawks outscored the Vulcans 14-1 over the final seven minutes to erase a nine-point deficit. California won both regular season games versus IUP this year. The Vulcans easily handled the Crimson Hawks 66-43 on January 28 at Hamer Hall. Three weeks later, California built a 22-point first half lead before IUP stormed back only to fall short in a 45-44 defeat at Memorial Field House. The IUP-California trilogy marks just the second time in PSAC basketball history - men's or women's - that the same team has met three consecutive times in the championship game of the conference tournament. Ironically, the first time was also between IUP and California when the school's men's teams played in the title game in 1994, 1995 and 1996. |
