won the award a year ago.
Tracey forced overtime when she made the second of two free throws with eight seconds remaining in the second half. Eryn Withers came up big for the Crimson Hawks over the final three minutes, hitting two 3-pointers and making a steal and layup to cut California's lead from 49-40 to 49-48 with 44 seconds left.
Tracey was fouled with eight seconds left with a chance to put IUP in front. She missed the first shot and the second attempt rolled around the rim and fell through. Brooque Williams missed a baseline jumper at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
Withers, who scored 17 in the semifinal win over West Chester, had 14 points in the championship game victory. Tracey became the all-time leading rebounder in IUP history with 1,078, the ninth most in PSAC history, and moved into sixth place in conference history with 2,071 points.
IUP never led in the game until taking a 50-49 lead on a free throw by Heberling 48 seconds into the overtime period. Williams put California back in front with a jumper at the 3:45 mark before Tracey gave the Crimson Hawks the lead for good just over a minute later. Heberling scored again with 1:43 left to make it 54-51, and IUP hit six of eight free throws over the final 1:03 to pull away.
Including overtime, IUP outscored California 20-2 over the final 8:21 of the game and forced nine of the Vulcans 29 turnovers over that span. After a 3-pointer by Lindsay Johnson gave California a 49-40 lead with 3:22 left in the second game, the Vulcans committed turnovers on their next four possessions allowing the Crimson Hawks to get back in the game.
Johnson led California with 14 points, including four 3-pointers, and was followed in the scoring column by Crystal Andrews with 12, Williams with 11 and Kayla Smith with 10. Williams paced the Vulcans with 12 rebounds and Smith had 10 as California held a 41-34 advantage on the glass.
California led 26-18 at halftime as Andrews got the Vulcans off to a quick start with 10 points and four steals over the opening 20 minutes. The lead grew to 11 in the opening minutes of the second half when a layup by Smith made it 30-19.
IUP went on an 11-4 run and chopped its deficit to 34-30 when Hillary Shope made her first 3-pointer of the season. Shope entered the season with 59 3-pointers in her first two seasons but had not made one in 10 attempts entering the conference championship game.
The Vulcans kept the Crimson Hawks at arm's length and rebuilt their margin to 46-38 on the first of Johnson's 3-pointers in a 39 second span. Two free throws by Lacey Claar made it 46-40 before Johnson connected again from long distance to give California a seemingly comfortable 49-40 margin heading into the homestretch.
