Box Score
WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Dana Weems scored 21 points, including two clutch free throws in the final minute of the game, as top-seed and host West Chester barely held on for a 75-72 victory over fourth-seeded Cheyney in a PSAC women’s basketball quarterfinal matchup inside Hollinger Field House Tuesday evening.
West Chester (20-8) advances to the semifinals of the conference tournament for the second year in a row and will face Indiana (Pa.) at home on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in the second game of a doubleheader at Hollinger Field House. California (Pa.) will take on Millersville at 5:30 p.m. in the other semifinal Friday evening.
Cheyney (12-13) saw its season come to an end at the hands of rival West Chester in the first round of the playoffs for the second straight year. The Rams defeated the Wolves, 84-69, last winter.
“It was a game of runs,” West Chester head coach Deirdre Kane said. “It was a great basketball game. I give all the credit in the world to Cheyney. They played a great game.”
The most important of those runs for the hosts came in the final 6:10 of the first half when the Golden Rams closed the frame on a 23-6 run, sparked by Jill Keefer’s nine points off the bench. The bulk of that run came with starters Weems and Garber sitting next to Kane.
As a result of that burst, West Chester opened up a 35-28 lead at halftime. That advantage would eventually grow to 15 after Weems finished off a conventional 3-point play with 8:56 left in the contest.
However, Cheyney went to work picking away at West Chester’s large cushion and would crawl back to within two (71-69) with 1:22 to go. Weems sank two pivotal foul shots with 40 seconds left to push the lead to four and make it a two-possession game.
Bridget Carlin (12 points) hit one of two free throws to increase the hosts’ lead to five with 20 ticks left. Lutfiyya Muhammad nailed a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left, but Megan Stewart hit one of two foul shots with nine seconds to go to give West Chester a 75-72 lead.
The Golden Rams seemingly missed an opportunity to put the game out of reach in the early going as they forced five turnovers by the Wolves in the game’s first eight minutes, but only mustered one point off of those miscues. As a result, Cheyney maintained an early 10-7 lead.
West Chester was mired in a shooting slump during the game's first 12 minutes, knocking down shots at a woeful 14 percent before Keefer sprang off the bench and heated things up with her hot hand.
Martina Randall led Cheyney with a game-high 22 points. Muhammad added 18 and Angel Stephens 11.
Stewart posted seven assists, and Allison Hostetter grabbed 10 rebounds for West Chester.
NOTES: The PSAC women’s semifinals come to West Chester this weekend for the third time overall and first since 2003 … the PSAC women’s champion was also determined on Hollinger Field House’s floor in 1997 … the Golden Rams reached the conference finals in 2003, before falling at the hands of Cal … Kane leads her charges into the semifinals for the sixth time in her 23 years of coaching at WCU … Kane reaches the 20-win plateau for the fifth time in her career at WCU … she now has 395 career wins in 25 years of college coaching and 353 wins at West Chester … the Golden Rams improved to 11-17 overall in the PSAC postseason tournament … West Chester is 2-0 in the postseason against Cheyney … the Wolves fall to 1-3 in the PSAC postseason tournament since 1984 ... sophomore guard Megan Stewart eclipsed 100 assists on the season for the second straight year ... she becomes just the fifth player in WCU history to reach 100 assists in a single season twice in her career ... Stewart has 106 assists on the year as opposed to her 103 helpers a year ago.
