Jan. 29, 2007

Final Stats

California, Pa. - The Rock (8-11 overall, 2-3 PSAC-West) never led in Monday night's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division game at Califonria U. of Pa., but also never gave up in its quest to knock off the defending PSAC champions.

In the end, California (13-6, 3-2) prevailed by two points, 60-58.

SRU trailed by as many as 12 points (19-7 with 7:45 left) in the first half but battled back to go on a 13-3 run and close the margin to only points (22-20) with just under three minutes remaining before halftime.

California held a three-point (28-25) lead at intermission and pulled out to another 12-point lead (55-43) with 7:30 left in the game.

The Rock's final comeback try resulted in a 15-5 scoring advantage in the final seven-plus minutes and twice got the Green and White to within two points in the final 60 seconds but was not enough.

Jessica Schake and Dana Stewart shared team-high scoring honors with 10 points each, while Chere' Marshall added eight points.

Nikki Presto was one of three Rock players to finish with six points and led SRU in both rebounding (9) and assists (5). Amanda Kaufman and Amanda Nero also scored six points for The Rock.

Defensively, The Rock held California star Kim Nowakowski -- the No. 4 scorer in the PSAC with a 17.7 points per game average -- to only seven points.

The Rock will look to snap a two-game losing streak on Wednesday, when it will host division rival Clarion (6-13, 1-4) in a crucial 6 p.m. game in Morrow Field House.

SRU then travels to Lock Haven (9-10, 2-3) for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday before entertaining Edinboro (10-9, 2-3) in a 6 p.m. game on Feb. 7.

The Rock is currently tied with Edinboro and Lock Haven for fourth place in the PSAC-West after its loss at California and Edinboros's 55-50 win over Clarion. Lock Haven was idle on Wednesday.

The top four teams in the division at the end of the season will advance to the conference playoffs.

SRU seeks a second successive trip to the conference playoffs after finishing fourth in last year's division race.