CALIFORNIA, Pa. — The Millersville Marauders opened Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play with a trip to California (Pa.) to take on the previously nationally ranked Vulcans. The two teams battled to overtime last season and provided a worthy encore in this contest as the Marauders won the extra session 15-4 to claim a 68-57 victory.
 
The first 10 minutes went in the Marauders' favor, as they shot 50% from the field and entered the second with a 16-11 lead. While the Marauder defense stifled the Vulcans to the tune of a 19.2% shooting mark, their rebounding was not as buttoned up; Cal U shot 12 more shots than the guests mostly because they grabbed 10 more offensive rebounds.
 
Makiah Shaw's free throw with 7:53 remaining in the second gave the Marauders their biggest lead of the game at 21-11, but the Vulcans immediately surged right back. The hosts responded with a three on the next possession and finished the quarter on a 14-3 run to go up 25-24 entering the half.
 
The Marauder's second quarter struggles followed them into the third, and they quickly found themselves down 33-26. However, a media timeout with 4:40 on the clock gave Millersville head coach Kira Mowen a chance to talk it over with her team. They looked to get out in transition more after that, and that strategy immediately paid dividends when Kali March found a streaking Shaw for an easy two.
 
"We focused more on pushing tempo than taking a backseat to their speed," Mowen said of the adjustments made in that stoppage. "We can always create more opportunities for ourselves, but we had to fix the offensive rebounds."
 
In the halfcourt, Shaw was the team's go-to woman for much of the quarter, as she took advantage of the holes in the Cal U zone to procure open shots. She tallied six of her 18 points in the final four minutes of the third quarter and kept the Marauders afloat. Shaw continued her hot shooting into the fourth with baskets on consecutive possessions to cut the deficit to two at 39-41.
 
A minute later, Rhyan Mitchell found herself nearly alone on the right block and put it in to knot the game at 41. That spurred a Cal timeout, after which the Vulcans responded with an 8-2 stretch to retake the advantage with four minutes remaining. Another media timeout allowed Mowen to reorganize her troops. She decided to put it in the hands of her sharpshooting point guard on the possession following the stoppage, and March rewarded that trust with a stepback three on the far wing. The next possession, March found Morgan Mahoney on the right block, where she turned and laid it in. Mahoney then floated an entry pass to Bryn Zentner on the right block with two seconds on the shot clock. Zentner deftly turned and laid it in to beat the buzzer and cut the deficit to one with two minutes to go.
 
After the teams traded misses, Cal U's Talia Gillard hit an impressive turnaround jumper from the free throw line with 40 seconds to go. The shot gave them a 53-50 advantage, meaning the Marauders would need at least a basket in their next possession. There was no doubt who the ball was going to find, as March received it with a bit of space on the nearside wing. March faked and went right before stepping back and draining the game-tying three with 19 seconds remaining. It was almost a carbon copy of her three-pointer a few minutes earlier, just on the other side of the court. With the game in their hands, the Vulcans missed their final three-point attempt as the buzzer sounded and the teams headed to overtime for the second straight season.
 
Zentner was the difference in the first couple minutes of the extra session; she nabbed two steals, both of which turned into baskets on the other end for the Marauders. One of those baskets was her own, and she started the scoring in the period with a basket as well. That put the Marauders up 61-56 with 1:30 to go. The Vulcans called timeout at that point and began to press the Marauders, which resulted in a defender fouling March and sending her to the line. The grad student stepped up to the mark and knocked down both attempts to extend the advantage to seven. After another Cal U miss, March was fouled once more and delivered the same result to push the lead to nine with a minute to play. That put the game out of reach and the Marauders salted away the clock on their next possession to secure the 68-57 victory.

GAME NOTES

• It is the second consecutive meeting between these two teams that has needed an overtime period to decide. The Vulcans emerged victorious in Pucillo Gymnasium on Dec. 1, 2023, by a score of 75-68. There have been three overtime games in the series' 40-game history; the other was an 86-69 Vulcan victory on Jan. 6, 2012.
• It is just the second time in the series' history that these teams have played in the month of November. The other was a 91-76 Marauder win on Nov. 9, 2013.

STATISTICAL INSIGHTS

• The box score tells an interesting story. The Marauders won by 11, but gave up 31 offensive rebounds while securing just nine of their own. Millersville turned the ball over 15 times (a season-low) while forcing nine Cal U giveaways. Where they won the game was at the free-throw line and on defense. They were a +9 at the stripe and made one more field goal than the Vulcans despite having 33 fewer shots.
• The Marauders received positive contributions from nearly all that appeared, but three player's statlines stand out. In addition to the game-tying three and clutch free throws, March led the team with 20 points and four assists while committing just one turnover. Shaw added 18 points, two blocks and a steal while shooting 8-of-13 from the field. Zentner had the best game of her young career; she recorded her first collegiate double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds while having two blocks and two steals.

POST GAME REACTION FROM HEAD COACH KIRA MOWEN

• On the victory: "Road wins always mean something.  Now, the key is continuing and not slacking tomorrow. It's not just one and done–we need to finish the series."
• On the lineup that opened the OT period: "That lineup brought us back and over the hump.  I'm going to run with what's hot and what's working. It was sightly unconventional, but in this situation it helped."

UP NEXT:

• The Marauders complete the PSAC back-to-back with a visit to Slippery Rock tomorrow, Nov. 23, at 1 p.m.