CHESTER, Pa. - Coming off a convincing 95-64 victory over Livingstone College yesterday, the West Chester University women's basketball team returned to the Schwartz Center on Sunday afternoon to host Glenville State College on the final day of the Carol Eckman Memorial Tournament on the campus of Widener University.
The Golden Rams entered Sunday's tournament finale at 1-0 after defeating Livingstone yesterday, while the Pioneers returned to the Schwartz Center on Sunday also carrying a 1-0 overall record following its 73-69 victory yesterday of Bloomsburg University.
Glenville's unique defensive sets and constant substitutions caused fits for West Chester early in the matchup and when the first half buzzer sounded, the game was knotted at 52 all through the first 20 minutes. Entering the second half, West Chester
Head Coach Kiera Wooden called upon her talented group of seniors to right the ship and they did more than deliver, as the unit –  led by 17 second-half points by senior Porscha Speller
(Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Catholic) – banded together to account for 36 of the Golden Rams 45 points over the final 20 minutes. With the seniors leading the charge, West Chester managed to break away from the Pioneers in the second half and take the 97-84 victory to end the Carol Eckman Memorial Tournament with a 2-0 record.
The senior's effort on Sunday was impressive but it was not surprising to coach Wooden.
"This group of seniors spearheads us," said Wooden after the win. "We feed off of them both offensively and defensively and wherever they go, this team will follow on both ends of the floor."
Glenville came out of the gate on fire against West Chester, storming out to a 5-0 advantage to start before eventually pushing the lead to seven points (13-6) with just under eight minutes to play in the first frame. A triple by GSC's Emily Stoller at the 5:42 mark handed the Pioneers their biggest lead of the opening quarter at 21-10 before a layup by Speller a minute later would spark a huge turnaround for the home team. Following Speller's deuce, the senior duo of Camden Boehner
(Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg) and Lexi Bruno
(Millville, N.J./Millville) combined to score the next 13-straight points of the quarter to give the Golden Rams the slim 23-22 advantage with just over a minute to play in the first stanza. A triple by Boehner – her fourth of the quarter – ended West Chester's scoring in the first and when the buzzer sounded, the Golden Rams found themselves up 26-25 heading into the second.
Both teams exchanged leads throughout the second quarter with neither side being able to build a cushion larger than three points throughout the duration. Following two free throws by Boehner that put West Chester up two with nine seconds remaining, a jumper by the Pioneers' Paris McLeod as time expired knotted the game up at 52-52 entering the locker rooms.
The story of the first half was easily the play of Boehner, as the talented senior dropped a career-high 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting through the first 20 minutes of action.
The third quarter proved very similar to the previous two with both teams handing each other the lead throughout. Up 73-69 with 46 seconds to play, Speller found Bruno underneath for a beautiful floater to give the Golden Rams the 75-69 cushion with just 10 minutes remaining in the game.
The home team managed to push the advantage to double digits in the fourth and did not relent whatsoever over the final minutes of the game. The waning moments of the contest saw numerous fouls and foul shots and when the smoke cleared it would be West Chester who would emerge victories 97-84 to improve to 2-0 to kick off the 2017-18 season.
Boehner's 32 points on Sunday were not only the most in the game and the most of her career but it also marked the first time that a West Chester women's basketball player eclipsed the 30-point plateau since Dallas Ely also dropped 32 points against Shippensburg in 2014.
Coming off a 24-point performance yesterday, Speller returned to the Schwartz Center on Sunday and dropped 22 points (6-of-15) while also tallying 11 boards and six helpers in the win. Senior Mia Hopkins
(Pittston, Pa./Pittston) notched her second double-double as a Golden Ram (11 points/12 rebounds) and Bruno chipped in 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting and five assists in her West Chester debut.
For Glenville State, Paris McLeod notched 21 points in the lose while Erika Toney grabbed a team-high nine rebounds to go along with six points for the Blue Bears.
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