Boxscore

IUP once again erased a 14-point deficit against California but this time could not complete the comeback and dropped a 61-51 decision to the Vulcans in the quarterfinals of the PSAC tournament Tuesday at Memorial Field House.

The loss puts the Crimson Hawks (19-8) squarely on the bubble for a bid to the NCAA Atlantic Region tournament, and they will have to wait until the selections are made Sunday night to see if they will earn an at-large bid. The champions of the PSAC, WVIAC and CIAA receive automatic berths and five others are awarded at-large invitations.

IUP was ranked eighth in the region last Wednesday, but that did not take into account three wins last week. California (21-6), ranked fourth in the region, advances to take on Bloomsburg in the semifinals on Friday.

The Vulcans eliminated IUP in the opening round of the PSAC tournament for the second straight year. This also marked the fifth consecutive season the teams have met in the conference playoffs, with the Crimson Hawks defeating the Vulcans in the championship game in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Eryn Withers (Burtonsville, Md./Springbrook), a senior playing her final game at Memorial Field House, led IUP with 15 points and eight rebounds while also making three steals. Vianca Tejada (Pennsauken, NJ/Cherry Hill East) came off the bench to also reach double figures with 11. The Crimson Hawks shot only 37.3 percent from the field and were outrebounded 39-26.

California All-American Kayla Smith was a dominant force on both ends of the floor, hitting 8 of 11 shots and scoring 21 points while pulling down 17 rebounds. Amy Johns added 14 points and Ryan Gadson finished with 12 to give the Vulcans three players in double figures.

In the second meeting during the regular season, IUP wiped out a 33-19 first half deficit and stormed back for a 60-57 win that helped the Crimson Hawks gain the second seed in the West and a home playoff game. Again the Vulcans started out hot, hitting 12 of their first 18 field goal attempts to race to a 29-15 lead at the 6:12 mark of the first half.

But just like the last time, IUP was able to get back in the game before halftime, this time by holding California scoreless the rest of the half and getting two baskets and three free throws from Tejada during an 11-0 run to end the half. Withers provided the Crimson Hawks with a huge boost entering intermission with a steal and layup at the buzzer to make it 29-26 at the half.

Tejada finished with nine points in the first half and Smith had 10 points and 11 rebounds for California. Smith alone outrebounded the Crimson Hawks over the opening 20 minutes when the Vulcans had 23 boards to only nine for IUP.

California appeared to gain control of the game again early in the second half, getting a steal and layup by Gadson followed by her 3-pointer help the Vulcans push their lead back up to 40-32 with 13:59 remaining. But Withers scored seven straight points on two free throws, a 3-pointer and a bucket off an offensive rebound to make it 40-39 midway through the half.

The teams traded scores for much of the remainder of the game and the difference was no more than a five-point California lead until Johns hit the second of two free throws to make it 53-47 with 3:58 left.

Tejada and Katelyn Marshall (Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton) both had baskets sandwiched around a jumper by Johns that left the Vulcans in front 55-51 with 1:44 to go. But Withers missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 33 seconds remaining, and Johns hit four straight free throws to salt away the game.