ERIE, Pa. - The Mercyhurst women's basketball team never led as the visiting Vulcans from the California University of Pennsylvania knocked off the Lakers by a final of 63-47 on Wednesday night at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West division action.  

The Vulcans got off to a hot start as Shauna Harrison and Lauren Bennett hit from deep for the early 6-0 lead.  Amber Renz earned the Lakers first points of the contest with a layup at the 1:49 mark, before Brionna Allen answered at the other end making it 8-2.  Kori Sidwell, Meghan Komendarek, and Renz responded with six in a row to draw level 8-8 with 4:26 left.  Emily Shopene would take a feed from Lauren Lapertosa converting the layup to keep the score tied 10-10, but Halle Herrington continued to strong shooting from deep for the visitors by knocking down a triple.  Cal scored four more points to close the frame up 17-10.  Turnovers plagued the Lakers in the first committing seven resulting in eight Vulcans points.

DJ Hahn split a pair at the stripe to begin the second, before the home team got hot from beyond as both Nicolete Newman and Renz hit from deep to cut the deficit down to 20-16 just over a minute in.  Hahn scored six consecutive visiting points to help her team stretch the lead out to 26-19 with 6:17 remaining.  Mercyhurst tried to get back into the game using a 5-2 push on buckets from Lauren Lapertosa, Shopene and Komendarek that pulled the Lakers to within 28-24.  However, Cal finished the half with Olivia Hudson and Bianca Jasper both knocking home threes to have the Vulcans in front 34-24 at half.  

Lapertosa and Komendarek scored the first four Lakers points of the third quarter, but still found themselves down by double-digits 39-28 after a triple from Hudson at the 4:39 mark.  Two by Hahn from the line and a three for Herrington extended their largest lead of the game to 44-28 with 4:15 remaining.  The two sides exchanged the ensuing eight points with the Lakers scores coming from Renz and Komendarek keeping the margin at 48-32 under two minutes left.  Mercyhurst netted the final five points of the period with Sidwell hitting two on the line and Lapertosa converting an "old-fashioned" three-point play to leave the hosts down 48-37 through 30-minutes.  

Cal began the final frame with back-to-back triples from Jasper and Hudson to open the margin back up to 54-39.  Shopene and Lapertosa each buried jumpers to make it 56-43, but Hudson came right back down the floor with a triple from Hudson to push the advantage out to 59-43 at the halfway point.  Julia Buchman and Lapertosa each netted a basket down the stretch, unfortunately, it would not be enough as the Vulcans secured the 63-47 victory.  

Mercyhurst shot 46.2% from the floor, 22.2% beyond the arc, and 81.8% on the charity line.  California was 38.5% in the field, 37% from deep, and 92.9% at the foul line.  The Lakers dominated the paint 30-6, while the Vulcans held a 22-2 edge in points off of turnovers.  

Lapertosa led the Lakers with 11 points and six rebounds.  Renz dropped nine pulling down two boards.  Both Sidwell and Komendarek put up seven each.  Shopene, Newman, and Buchman combined for 13 points.  

Hudson paced the Vulcans with 18 points, followed by Jasper (16) and Hahn (11).  Harrison had a game-high eight rebounds.

Postseason Push
The Lakers remain locked in a battle for the final playoff spot with Seton Hill after both teams suffered defeats on Wednesday.  It will all come down to resutls on Saturday to determine who will earn the last spot.

On Deck - Regular Season Finale
Mercyhurst finishes the regular season on the road when they visit Slippery Rock on Saturday afternoon at 1pm.