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Former SRU coach Vincent gets 200th career win vs. Rock

SLIPPERY ROCK — It was a successful homecoming for Darcie Vincent and Kim Nowakowski Wednesday night at Morrow Field House.

Well, sort of.

Butler graduate Nowakowski scored 14 points and recorded six rebounds, and former Slippery Rock University coach Vincent recorded her 200th career coaching victory as California (Pa.) University scored a 62-45 women's basketball victory over The Rock.

Vincent won 52 games in four years as SRU coach before moving on to Cal, where she is 148-28 with a Division II national championship.

"It seems ironic to get the 200th win on this floor," Vincent said. "I have some happy memories here."

But Wednesday night wasn't one of them, despite the 17-point win.

SRU (6-8, 0-1) trailed only 20-19 with 4:41 left in the first half before allowing California (10-3, 1-0) to go on an 11-0 run.

The Vulcans average 75 points and 18 offensive rebounds per game. They scored 62 points and notched just seven offensive boards against SRU.

"They have small guards and small post players, yet we really struggled," Vincent said. "It's not the size that beats you sometimes, it's the disruption.

"They definitely disrupted what we were trying to do. Our offense had no continuity. This game had no flow."

Nowakowski leads California with 15.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, but didn't score until 3:21 remained in the half.

"I had my worst game ever here last year, scoring something like six points," Nowakowski said. "I thought the same thing was gonna happen again."

Trailing by nine points at halftime, The Rock failed to score a field goal in the second half until Grove City graduate Amber McFeely stole the ball in the backcourt and drove for a layup the other way with 11:56 remaining.

By that time, SRU trailed 42-23.

"The lead went from nine points to 16 in the first four minutes of the second half," SRU coach Laurel Heilman said. "The game was lost right there.

"It's such a struggle for us to score baskets. We're third in the league in scoring defense right now and we better stay there."

Freshman Jessica Schake led SRU with a season-high 23 points and seven rebounds. Her previous scoring-best was 13.

Two Rock starters — Kristen Bonner and Angela Greaser — failed to score a point. Another starter, post player Amanda Chojnacki, scored only four.

"When you play someone double-digit minutes, you expect certain production," Heilman said. "We're just not getting it."

While California won its fifth straight game — and eighth straight over SRU since 2002 — The Rock lost for the fifth time in six games.

California guard Megan Storck had nine assists, giving her 663 in her career and breaking the Vulcans' former record of 660, which stood since 1994.

Sophomore guard Jamar Scales scored a career-high 34 points, hitting 14-of-19 shots, but he couldn't prevent The Rock's (1-13, 0-1) 12th straight defeat.Scales entered the game averaging 9.2 points per contest."That kind of game has been in him, but scoring points has not been our problem," SRU coach John Marhefka said. "Defense and rebounding have been."The Rock's 75 points marked the most it has scored in regulation time this season. Yet SRU gives up 77 points per game and was outrebounded 34-20 Wednesday.SRU had a 19-10 lead with 14:26 left in the first half, but trailed 44-40 at halftime.When Scales sank a jumper with six minutes left in the contest, The Rock trailed 69-66. But the Vulcans (10-3, 1-0) went on a 16-6 run from there and Scales didn't score again."The longer this streak goes, the tougher it will be to win," Marhefka admitted. "Yeah, we're young, but we can't use that as an excuse. Our kids need to develop the maturity to recognize what it takes to win."Jamar had 34 points, but he also had six turnovers. I'd rather take four points, no turnovers and a win."Besides senior Dejan Jancic, The Rock's roster consists of all freshmen and sophomores.California had four players score in double figures — led by James Petty's 29 points — in winning for the fifth time in six games.California has defeated SRU 16 times in their last 17 meetings.Both SRU teams travel to West Chester Saturday.Women's BoxCALIFORNIA (62)Lisa Gottuso 3-8 3-4 10, Megan Storck 3-5 0-0 7, April Smith 3-3 2-4 8, Keris Timol 0-1 0-0 0, Kim Nowakowski 5-10 3-4 14, Lindsay Johnson 3-6 0-0 8, Dani Mills 1-3 2-4 4, Brehane Dillon 2-3 0-0 4, Danielle Dukes 0-1 0-0 0, Amber Kister 2-4 3-4 7. Totals: 22-44 13-20 62.SLIPPERY ROCK (45)Amber McFeely 3-8 0-0 8, Angela Greaser 0-4 0-0 0, Amanda Chojnacki 2-5 0-0 4, Kristen Bonner 0-8 0-0 0, Jessica Schake 8-13 7-13 23, Amanda Nero 0-2 0-0 0, Jess Caso 0-0 0-0 0, Dana Stewart 0-3 0-0 0, Amanda Kaufman 2-6 2-3 6, Cathy Lee Peffer 0-0 0-1 0, KellyAnn Staudinger 2-6 0-0 4, Deandra Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Stephanie Schwartz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-55 9-17 45.Halftime — California, 31-22. 3-point goals — Cal 5-9 (Gottuso 1-2, Storck 1-1, Timol 0-1, Nowakowski 1-1, Johnson 2-4), SRU 2-10 (McFeely 2-3, Greaser 0-2, Bonner 0-5). Rebounds — Cal 36 (Gottiso 10), SRU 31 (Schake 7). Assists — Cal 17 (Storck 9), SRU 9 (McFeely 3). Total fouls — Cal 21, SRU 15. Fouled out — none; Technical fouls — none.Men's BoxCALIFORNIA (85)Boris Mesnager 5-9 3-3 13, James Petty 10-14 7-7 29, Travis Eisentrout 0-3 0-0 0, John Owens 0-4 0-2 0, Osborne Gardner 4-6 2-4 10, London Houston 2-2 0-0 5, Kelvin Green 5-9 3-5 13, Mike Smelkinson 2-2 0-0 5, Mike Melton 2-6 2-2 6, Sammy Rahman 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 32-58 17-23 85.SLIPPERY ROCK (75)Matt Schaefer 1-3 0-0 2, Jamar Scales 14-194-4 34, Joseph Vines 4-5 1-2 9, Dejan Jancic 1-2 0-1 2, Erroll Robinson 2-7 7-8 11, Brandon Thompson 3-5 0-2 6, Corey Nesser 0-0 0-0 0, Eric Novick 1-1 0-0 2, Matt Hale 3-5 2-2 9, Tim Dykgraaf 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 29-49 14-19 75.Halftime — California, 44-40. 3-point goals — Cal 4-10 (Petty 2-3, Eisentrout 0-2, Owens 0-1, Houston 1-1, Green 0-1, Smelkinson 1-1, Melton 0-1), SRU 3-8 (Schaefer 0-1, Scales 2-3, Robinson 0-2, Hale 1-2). Rebounds — Cal 34 (Green 7), SRU 20 (Scales 5). Assists — Cal 18 (Owens 5), SRU 9 (Schaefer 3). Total fouls — Cal 20, SRU 18. Fouled out — none; Technical fouls — none.

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