GAME NOTES: EdinboroSTORYLINEThe Edinboro women's basketball team begins a crucial stretch of games on Saturday that will determine its PSAC Tournament seeding. The Fighting Scots travel to California (Pa.) in a match-up of two top four teams in the PSAC West. Edinboro enters the game with a 14-5 record and 11-4 in the PSAC West while California (Pa.) is 16-3 and 13-2 in the division. Edinboro has won its last three games at Cal, all by double-digits. The Scots are two wins away from clinching a PSAC Tournament berth. The Vulcans are one of three teams to clinch one of the six spots from the PSAC West. Edinboro plays the three teams ahead of them in the division over the course of the next five games. The Fighting Scots are two games behind Cal and Gannon - their next two opponents - from a first round bye in the PSAC Tournament. The Scots are seventh in the D2SIDA Atlantic Regional Poll while the Vulcans are tied for third.
DATE: Saturday, January 31, 2015
TIP-OFF: 3:00 p.m.
LOCATION: California, Pa.
ARENA: Convocation Center
LIVE STATSLIVE RADIOLIVE VIDEO2014-15 STATS: Edinboro |
California (Pa.)SERIES HISTORY VS. THE VULCANSEdinboro Leads 42-35• California (Pa.) has won three of the last four meetings after Edinboro won eight in a row.
EDINBORO STARTING FIVE EDINBORO QUICK THREE• Indiana(Pa.) is currently first in the PSAC West at 13-1, with Gannon and California(Pa.) tied for second at 13-2. The top two teams in each division receive a first round bye in the PSAC Tournament. At 11-4, Edinboro is currently in fourth place, two games behind Gannon and Cal. The third and fourth place teams host first round games. With seven games remaining in the regular season, including contests with Cal, Gannon and IUP, the Fighting Scots still have an opportunity to finish in the top two. Edinboro has finished either first or second in the Western Division the last four years. The PSAC Semifinals and Championship will be hosted by the highest remaining seed from the PSAC East. Currently, Bloomsburg is the top team in that division with a 16-2 overall record and 14-1 record in division.
• Edinboro is first in Division II in 3-point shooting percentage shooting 40.6 percent from beyond the arc. The Fighting Scots finished last season second in Division II from beyond the arc connecting on 39.1 percent of their 3-point attempts.
Lauren Hippo ranks atop the team in 3-point percentage. The school's all-time leader in 3-point percentage (45.6 percent) has made 42-of-94 (45.5 percent) of her 3-point attempts. The junior guard/forward ranks second in the PSAC in 3-point percentage and 18th in the nation. One other Edinboro player with double-digit 3-point attempts is shooting above 40 percent on 3-pointers.
Valerie Majewski has shot 29-for-67 (43.3 percent) on 3-pointers. The Fighting Scots have made 40 percent or more of their 3-point attempts in 12 of their 19 games.
• Hippo scored a season-high 24 points in Edinboro's 86-73 victory against Seton Hill on Wednesday night. It was the 11th time in the last 12 games she has scored in double figures. The junior guard/forward shot 8-for-13 from the field, 4-for-7 on 3-pointers, and 4-for-5 at the free throw line. She also led Edinboro in rebounding for the first time in her career pulling down seven rebounds. Edinboro is 25-3 over the last two seasons when Hippo scores 10-or-more points and average 76.1 ppg. when she does so compared to an 16-8 record when she scores in single-digits and average 71.8 ppg.
SCOUTING CALIFORNIA (PA)• California (Pa.) has won each of its last two games and five of its last six contests. The Vulcans have been as high as 22nd in the WBCA/USA Today Sports Top 25 Coaches Poll and are currently tied for third in the D2SIDA Atlantic Regional Poll.
• Cal ranks fourth in the PSAC in scoring offense (73.1 ppg.) and third in scoring defense (60.6 ppg.). The Vulcans have held opponents to 60-or-less points in seven games this year including limiting Edinboro to 48 points the first time these two teams met. The Vulcans rank third in turnovers per game (15.1 to/gm) and first in steals per game (12.05 s/gm). The later mark ranks 11th in Division II and their +7.7 turnover margin is the third-best in the country.
• Emma Mahady paces California (Pa.) with 16.1 ppg. and 6.1 rpg. She is fourth in the PSAC in scoring. The Australian-born senior has started all 19 games she has played in this season, and 55 of the Vulcans last 57 games. The last time she faced Edinboro she shot 7-for-14 from the field and scored 15 points to go along with seven rebounds. In the previous five games before that against the Fighting Scots, the guard/forward shot 12-for-52 (23.1 percent), 2-for-14 on 3-pointers (14.3 percent), and averaged 8.4 ppg.
