Balanced Attack Leads West Chester Past Cheyney 95-66

Box Score

CHEYNEY, Pa. – West Chester used a balanced offense, putting all five starters in double figures, in a 95-66 PSAC East victory over host Cheyney Wednesday night inside Cope Hall.

The Golden Rams 13-6 overall, stay atop the Eastern Division with an 8-1 conference mark, holding a one-game lead over Bloomsburg, who won a second-place battle at Millersville. Meanwhile, Cheyney falls to 3-15 overall and 3-6 in conference play.

Dallas Ely led the way with 22 points, Brittany Sicinski tallied 20 and a game-high seven assists. It marks the second game in a row the sophomore duo each scored at least 20 points and the third time this year. Anna Kuntz notched a double-double with 17 points and a career high 12 rebounds while Kendall Benovy had 14 and eight boards, and Jasmen Clark scored 10. She also had five assists and five steals.

Cheyney led 9-7 after the first five minutes. But, an Ely 3-pointer ignited a 13-0 run by the visiting Golden Rams that was capped with six straight from Sicinski to give West Chester a 20-9 lead with 11: 30 left in the half.

The lead was as large as 21 in the first half, and the Golden Rams held a 47-30 advantage at the break. Ely led the way with 12, Kuntz grabbed eight rebounds to go with her eight points, and Sicinski scored 11 and dished a team-high six assists in the half.

West Chester made 20 of 37 shots (54 percent) in the first half, and turned Cheyney over 17 times in the half.

The second 20 minutes started with West Chester building its lead to as much as 31, before the Wolves went on an 18-3 run to cut the lead to 16 at 69-53 with eight minutes remaining.

Kendall Benovy scored off an offensive rebound, and Ely hit a rainbow trifecta, to key a 7-0 West Chester surge and build the advantage back to 23.

The Golden Rams are back action on Saturday, Feb. 1 when PSAC East rival Mansfield comes to Hollinger Field House for a 2 p.m. tip-off.
 
NOTES: WCU leads the all-time series 55-11 ... WCU has won 14 straight in the series ... WCU has won 47 of last 48 meetings ... Ely scored 20 or more this season for the ninth time ... she also scored her 600th point in her two-year career ... she now has 601 career points in 43 games. Ely has hit 96 3-pointers - eighth-most in school history ... Ely and Sicinski each topped the 20-point mark in the same game for the second consecutive game and third time this season ... Sicinski tied a career high with her seven assists ... She scored 20 or more points in a game for the third consecutive game and seventh time this year ... WCU broke the 90-point plateau for the fifth time this season ... their 95 points is one shy of the season-high 96 vs Shepherd ... Anna Kuntz recorded her third double-double of the season and pulled down a career high 12 rebounds.