Box Score
WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Renata Neal scored 16 points and Natalie Winters netted 13 off the bench as West Chester University downed visiting East Stroudsburg University to clinch a postseason playoff berth with a 88-69 victory in a PSAC women’s basketball contest inside Hollinger Field House Saturday afternoon.
West Chester (18-9, 8-6 PSAC East) will be the fourth seed in the 2010 PSAC Women’s Basketball Tournament and will travel to regular-season champion Millersville (23-4, 13-1) on Tuesday for a quarterfinal round game inside Pucillo Gym. East Stroudsburg finishes up the 2009-10 campaign at 4-23 overall and 2-12 in the conference.
Bloomsburg (15-10, 8-6) defeated Kutztown (18-8, 9-4) on Saturday to secure the third seed in the postseason. The Huskies and Golden Rams tied for third place in the league standings and split the season series. However, Bloomsburg’s win over Kutztown Saturday gives them a season sweep of the Golden Bears and the subsequent tie-breaker as determined by the PSAC. Bloomsburg and Kutztown will have a rematch in Kutztown on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. in the other Eastern Division quarterfinal.
On Senior Day at Hollinger Field House, it was a pair of seniors who led the way for the Golden Rams. Winters was 3-for-3 from beyond the 3-point arc while Neal went 7 of 11 from the field and grabbed six rebounds. Classmate Bridget Carlin posted eight assists in 17 minutes of action to lead all players in that category on Saturday.
Five West Chester players reached double figures as Allison Hostetter registered 12 points and six rebounds, and Dominique Adams and Jillian Keefer each contributed 10 points. The Golden Rams shot 50.8 percent (33-for-65) from the field in the game, limiting the Warriors to just 34.9 percent (22 of 63).
West Chester went on a 14-2 run to open the second half, pushing the hosts’ lead to a game-high 26 points (61-35). The closest East Stroudsburg would come the rest of the way was 14 points (64-50) with 10 minutes to play in the game.
West Chester travels to Millersville on Tuesday for the quarterfinal round of the 2010 PSAC Women’s Basketball Postseason Tournament. Tip-off time is 7 p.m. at Pucillo Gym. Fans can catch all the action on 91.7 WCUR-FM, or over the internet on Red Zone Media (www.redzonemedia.com).
In the West, No. 1 seed and national No. 1 Gannon will host No. 4 Edinboro in an Erie-County matchup. The Fighting Scots nabbed the last playoff spot out of the Western Division Saturday with a 78-66 win over Clarion. No. 3 seed Indiana (Pa.) will visit No. 2 California (Pa.) in a rematch of the last three PSAC Tournament championship games – all won by the Crimson Hawks – guaranteeing a different tournament championship game matchup this winter.
NOTES: The Golden Rams are making their fourth consecutive trip to the PSAC Tournament as they have now qualified for the playoffs in 14 of the last 15 years … West Chester is 1-5 all-time in the PSAC Tournament against Millersville and 0-3 on the road … the two have not met since the 2006-07 postseason – a 57-54 Millersville upset win in Hollinger … the only West Chester win over Millersville in the postseason came in 2000-01 (94-80) … WCU head coach Deirdre Kane is making her 17th trip to the postseason … Kane is 10-17 all-time in the PSAC Tournament … West Chester has reached the PSAC semifinals in each of the past two seasons, losing to IUP each time … West Chester has not reached the PSAC Tournament championship game since 2003 – a 58-54 loss at the hands of California (Pa.).
