ERIE, Pa. - The ride to 32-0 was nice, but the 33rd victory was the sweetest. Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament Most Valuable Player Tiffany Crocker (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) scored 22 second-half points en route to a career-high 27 as the No. 1 Gannon women's basketball team captured its first-ever PSAC Championship with a 77-68 victory over California (Pa.) Saturday night before 1,513 fans at the Hammermill Center.

The PSAC Championship verdict was Gannon's 33rd consecutive victory, 15th straight home win, third consecutive victory over California (Pa.) and 48th straight win when leading at halftime.

The PSAC title game turned into the contest everybody thought it would as the top two teams in the Atlantic Region went blow-for-blow. Gannon held a tight 43-39 lead four minutes into the second half, when Crocker began her exploits. The senior guard drilled a three-pointer and then converted a jumper on the next possession, extending the lead to 48-39 with 14:35 showing on the clock.

The Gannon lead was 57-50 when Crocker kick started a 7-0 run with another three-pointer. Her jumper at the 7:44 mark gave the Lady Knights a 64-50 edge.

California (Pa.) did not go away quietly. The Vulcans answered with a 9-2 run, cutting the deficit to 64-59 on Crystal Andrews' three-pointer with 5:45 to play.

A Brittany Tabron (Canton, Ohio/Canton Central Catholic) lay-up and three free throws pushed the lead to 70-59. California (Pa.) again rallied, pulling within 70-66 after five straight points by Andrews. Her old-fashion three-point play with 1:06 remaining brought the Vulcans within four points.

It was at that point when Kristina Freeman (Yonkers, N.Y./Pelham Memorial) put the final dagger in the Vulcans' heart. The senior guard drained a three-pointer from the left corner with 50 seconds left. The shot gave the Lady Knights a 73-66 lead and started the countdown to the 2010 PSAC Championship.

The first eight minutes of Saturday's PSAC title contest featured seven lead changes and four ties. Gannon then produced the game's first sizeable run. The Lady Knights erased a 17-14 deficit with 11 consecutive points. Four different players scored during the run. Shanna Thompson (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Shaker Heights) started the blitz with a put-back. Carrie Nolan (Girard, Pa./Girard) snapped a 17-17 tie 36 seconds later with a three-pointer. Crocker's lay-up with 9:37 remaining in the first half gave the Lady Knights a 24-17 lead.

Andrews momentarily stopped the bleeding with a jumper, but Gannon responded with 10 more straight points. Julie Kleber (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) produced six of the 10 points. Her lay-up with 4:22 showing on the clock gave the home squad its biggest lead of the night at 34-19.

In all, Gannon out-scored Cal 21-2 over the span of eight minutes and 30 seconds. The Lady Knights' defense caused seven turnovers and limited the Vulcans to 1-of-11 shooting during the stretch. California out-scored Gannon 12-5 over the final 3:55 and went to halftime with a 39-31 deficit.

Crocker led all scorers with a career-high 27 points, including 22 in the second half. The senior guard narrowly missed her second career double-double with nine assists. She was 7-of-11 from the field, 3-of-5 from three-point range and 10-of-10 from the free throw line. The Dublin, Ohio native was selected PSAC Tournament MVP after averaging 15.7 points, 7.3 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.7 steals in three games.

Tabron recorded her 28th career double-double and 11th of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. She averaged a double-double throughout the PSAC Tournament with 35 points and 30 rebounds in three games.

Freeman completed Gannon's trio of double-digit scorers with 14 points. Nolan was limited to eight points, but averaged a team-high 18.7 points and 2.3 rebounds during the tournament. All five starters averaged double digits in scoring during the PSAC Championships.

Gannon shot 45.5 percent (25-55) from the field, 42.1 percent (8-19) from three-point range and 70.4 percent (19-27) from the free throw line.

Andrews headlined the California (Pa.) scoring attack with a career-high 31 points, hitting 12-of-18 overall shots and 4-of-7 three-point attempts. All-American Brooque Williams added 18 points and nine rebounds. Amy Johns chipped in 11 points. Kayla Smith came into Saturday's title fight averaging a double-double, but was held scoreless until her only field goal of the night with 6:43 left in the game.

California (Pa.) shot 43.8 percent (28-64) from the floor, 23.5 percent (4-17) from behind the arc and 53.3 percent (8-15) from the charity stripe.

Gannon, ranked No. 1 in both the USA Today ESPN Top 25 and NCAA Division II Atlantic regional rankings, remained undefeated at 33-0. The Lady Knights are one victory away from tying an NCAA Division II record for consecutive victories in a single season. Their 33-game win streak equals the eighth-longest overall win streak in NCAA Division II history.

California (Pa.) saw its seven-game win streak snapped and dropped to 23-7 overall. The Lady Vulcans have dropped all three games against Gannon this season, including both played at the Hammermill Center.

The NCAA Division II Selection Show is scheduled for Sunday, March 7 at 9 p.m. The show can be viewed live on http://www.ncaa.com.

For a complete box score from Saturday's Gannon-California (Pa.) PSAC women's basketball championship game, please click here.