MILLERSVILLE, Pa. — The Millersville women's basketball team pushed the No. 10 California Vulcans to overtime but were outlasted, falling 75–68.
 
The Marauders first home game of the 2023-24 season was a thriller, with each team trading runs until the very end. After an even first half, Millersville surged out of halftime jumping out to an 11-point lead heading into the final frame, but the Vulcans stormed back to force overtime by outscoring Millersville in the fourth 21–10. Makiah Shaw, who led all players with 26 points, hit the game-tying basket for Millersville with seconds left in regulation. California was able to control the second half of overtime, ending the game on an 8–2 run.
 
The first half was tightly contested, as the largest lead in the half was five for the Vulcans. La'Shyra Williams and Shaw got the Marauders started on offense, scoring six of the first eight points for Millersville. The Vulcans were aggressive when defending, often putting on a full-court press. The Marauders were able to navigate through the pressure and often find the duo in the paint for fastbreak scores to keep pace with the Vulcans offense.
 
Millersville began to take control of the game halfway through the third quarter, when Marin Miller and Shaw drew fouls to kickstart a 16­–4 run. Shaw had 10 of the Marauders 16 points over that span, putting the Marauders up 51–40 heading into the fourth quarter. The teams traded baskets to start the fourth, and the Marauders led by 10 with six minutes remaining. The Vulcans called a timeout and started to fight back. Millersville led by one with 20 seconds left, but the Vulcans converted an and-one to take the lead. Down to their last possession, the Marauders needed a bucket, and Shaw drove down the lane and spun toward the basket, hitting a shot while falling to the court to tie the game at 61–61. 
 
In overtime, the Vulcans made key stops to stymie Millersville's offense and score on the fastbreak to pull away, winning 75–68. The Marauders are back at Pucillo tomorrow at 1 p.m. as they host Slippery Rock.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• California converted 23 points off of turnovers, while Millersville scored 12 points.
• 21 of the Vulcans points were off second chances. The Marauders scored 14 off second chances.
• Shaw shot 8–14 from the field and 10–11 from the free throw line for a game-high 26 points. It also is a career high for the junior forward.
• Williams and Juliana Vinluan were the other Marauders to reach double digit points, with 15 and 11 respectively.

 
POSTGAME REACTION FROM HEAD COACH KIRA MOWEN

• Overall thoughts on the game: "Coming off of the preseason or non-conference season we've had, I was extremely excited to see us play the way we played. I think everybody has to understand that taking over a culture and fixing it, you're going to have to have patience in everything you do. But to come out and play California, No. 10 in the country and probably top in our conference the way we did and take them into overtime, I think we made a lot of statements that people are going to take a strong look at now."
• On the adjustments each team made in the second half: "I think the adjustments that California made was they just got hungrier and went after us. And we took a step back, we stopped punching, and let them punch us. And the biggest thing is we could never overcome that energy that they brought from their bench and from their star people. It was just a matter of them getting grimy and dirty and hitting us back."
• On Shaw's performance: "Makiah had an excellent game tonight. Every offense that we ran down the stretch was designed to try to move the ball quickly and find the open person. And I'm proud of her that she took that spin move shot that made it to send us into overtime.
• Last thoughts and outlook to tomorrow's game: "I think we're going to rest a little bit, as much as we can rest right now, and then get back to work. We'll get to the drawing board tonight, watch some film and be ready for Slippery Rock tomorrow. And hopefully, we can take it at them and put it away without an overtime game."