INDIANA, Pa. – An early deficit couldn't keep IUP from its biggest win of the season as the eighth-ranked Crimson Hawks scored nearly 50 points in the second half to post a 76-61 victory over rival and 20th-ranked Cal U Saturday night at the Kovalchick Complex.
 
The win ran the Crimson Hawks' win streak to 14 in a row as they improved to 16-1 on the year. IUP also took control in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division as the conference's only undefeated team at 11-0 – two games ahead of Gannon (9-2), three ahead of Seton Hill (7-3) and four on top of the Vulcans (7-4).
 
IUP has wins over Gannon and Cal U with a home matchup against Seton Hill on tap in 11 days.
 
Senior forward Lexi Griggs came to play with a season-high 22 points to go along with seven rebounds playing all 40 minutes. She went 10-of-14 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the foul line, adding two blocks and a steal.
 
She helped the Hawks post their best shooting performance of the season, hitting an impressive 59.6 percent from the floor (28-of-47). IUP went 5-of-11 from 3-point range and hit on 15-of-18 from the charity stripe.
 
The momentum belonged to Cal U (13-4, 7-4 PSAC) early as the Vulcans hit four of their first five shots and forced IUP into three turnovers to take a 9-0 lead after less than three minutes of action.
 
IUP changed its fortunes with a 9-3 run to end the quarter before outscoring the Vulcans by five points in the second to take a 27-26 lead at halftime. Griggs gave IUP its first lead at 15-14 early on and finished with six points in the quarter. The Hawks later rebounded from a 24-21 deficit as sophomores Mikayla Lovelace and Rajah Fink together scored six straight points as they retook the lead.
 
The Vulcans again jumped on top in the third quarter with a 7-2 run to take a 33-32 lead which appeared to give them some second half momentum. But it was their final lead of the game as junior guard Courtney Alexander drained a 3-pointer from the wing and IUP shot 67 percent over the next five minutes to take a 48-44 lead to the fourth quarter.
 
It was all Crimson Hawks in the final 10 minutes as they connected on 9-of-11 from the floor, including three 3-pointers, and went 7-of-10 from the foul line to outscore Cal 28-17. Senior guard Natalie Myers scored nine points in the final quarter, while Alexander had seven and Griggs had six.
 
IUP gave up six offensive rebounds in the fourth but limited Cal U to just 7-of-23 shooting, including 0-of-5 from deep.
 
The Crimson Hawks overcame 12 first half turnovers to shoot 68.0 percent (17-of-25) from the field in the second half. IUP outrebounded the Vulcans 38-to-29, had seven blocks and forced Cal U into 11 turnovers.
 
Who stood out
Griggs' 22 points bettered her previous season-high of 18 points (three times). In her last three games against the Vulcans she's averaging 20.3 points per game with a 77.8 field goal percentage.
 
Myers finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds for her team-leading fifth double-double of the season. She went 5-of-10 from the floor with a couple of 3-pointers and hit on 6-of-6 from the foul line.
 
The Hawks received big time bench play from Alexander and Fink, who combined for 52 minutes. Alexander scored 10 points with six rebounds, going 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Fink had her most impressive outing of the season with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting with seven rebounds and two assists.
 
Junior guard Justina Mascaro added 11 points, four assists and two blocks.
 
Notes
The Crimson Hawks entered the game ranked No. 8 in the WBCA Top 25 and No. 14 in the D2SIDA Media Top 25 polls … The 14-game win streak is just one game short of tying the 15 consecutive wins IUP achieved each of the last two seasons … The 15-game win streaks are the longest in the head coach Tom McConnell era … The program record is 16 straight wins (1999-00) … This was McConnell's 249th career victory, including 164 at IUP and 85 as the head men's coach at Saint Francis … This is IUP's fourth win over Cal U in the last seven games after going 2-8 in McConnell's first 10 games against the Vulcans.
 
Up next
The Crimson Hawks look to keep their win streak going Wednesday when they travel to Pitt-Johnstown to take on the Mountain Cats (10-7, 5-6 PSAC). Tipoff is 5:30 p.m.
 
Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_WBB.