West Chester Falls To West Liberty, 88-85, In OT OF NCAAs

Box Score

CALIFORNIA, Pa. – Dallas Ely (Montrose, Pa./Montrose) and Brittany Sicinski (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) each scored 20 points, but fifth-seeded West Liberty outlasted fourth-seeded West Chester, 88-85, in overtime of its first-round game of the 2015 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament inside Hamer Hall Friday.
 
West Chester (24-6) saw its story-book season come to a close just one win shy of the tying the school record for wins in a single season. West Liberty (24-8) advances to the second round Saturday.
 
Ely posted a game-high 25 points, but her 3-point attempt in the waning seconds of regulation rimmed out, forcing overtime with the game tied at 73. Sicinski bulled her way to the hole quite often, finishing with 22 points for the Golden Rams.
 
The two teams combined for 27 points in the five-minute overtime period as both squads went toe-to-toe for the right to advance. West Liberty's Kierra Simpson set a new NCAA DII Atlantic Regional record with 29 rebounds Friday.
 
West Chester shot just 36 percent from the field (31-for-86) while West Liberty shot 41 percent (31-for-75). The Golden Rams could only make 63 percent of their free throws as well (14 of 22).
 
West Chester led by as many as 13 points in the second half. But, West Liberty came storming back to tie the game and force the extra session.
 
Senior Serifat Junaid (Chesilhurst, N.J./Camden Catholic) scored six points and grabbed nine rebounds in her final college basketball game. She is the only player graduating from the Rams' 2014-15 roster.
 
NOTES: Dallas Ely finishes her junior year with 1,220 career points and ranks eighth on the school's all-time scoring charts … she is 336 points shy of all-time leading scorer, Kiesha Mack (1,556) … Ely has eclipsed that total in each of the past two seasons … Brittany Sicinski will enter her senior year with 1,136 career points and ranks 13th on the all-time list … she is 420 points shy of Mack's all-time record … Sicinski has reached 420 points in each of the past two campaigns as well.