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WEST CHESTER, Pa. - It was a battle between the class of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division on Wednesday night, as the West Chester University women's basketball team welcomed East Stroudsburg University to Hollinger Field House with the top spot in the East hanging in the balance.
Both teams entered Wednesday's affair on fire, with the Warriors winning five of their last six games, while the Golden Rams returned home winning their last six-straight contests. Similarly to its last outing against Lock Haven, it was West Chester's PSAC-leading offense that took center stage on Wednesday night. With its top three scorers combining for 57 points, the Golden Rams' scoring punch was able to stave off a charging Warrior team down the stretch to earn the 84-77 win at home.
With the victory, the Golden Rams improve to 12-4 overall and take sole possession on top of the East with a 9-3 mark in conference matches. Conversely, East Stroudsburg drops to 10-5 on the year and 8-3 in the league games with the loss.
The first quarter was neck-and-neck for the majority, as the first 10 minutes saw three ties. With the score knotted at 13-13, West Chester strung together a 6-2 run - capped by a triple from
Camden Boehner (Gettysburg, Pa. / Gettysburg) – to grab the 19-15 advantage with just over a minute to play. After a long three-pointer by
Porscha Speller (Lancaster, Pa. / Lancaster Catholic) put the home team up 22-17, East Stroudsburg's Marlene Bassett connected on a layup underneath to cut the Golden Rams advantage to 22-19 heading into the second frame.
Leading 30-27 at the 5:47 mark, West Chester orchestrated a 14-0 run to take control of the game at 44-27 with a shade under three minutes remaining. The Golden Rams went up by 17 points twice over the next 2:13, until a triple by
Lexi Bruno (Millville, N.J. / Millville) gave the home team its biggest lead of the half (51-33) as time expired.
Although outscored in the third quarter, West Chester was able to maintain a double-digit cushion for a majority of stanza. Trailing 67-50, the Warriors ended the third on an 8-0 run to hack the Golden Ram's lead to nine (67-58) and bring the visitors within single digits for the first time in over 14 minutes.
Things got a little too close for comfort in the fourth, as East Stroudsburg was able to get within three (80-77) following a triple by Imani Jones with 1:22 to play. Following a WCU turnover,
Alexis Anderson (Allentown, Pa. / Louis E. Dieruff) picked Brown's pocket and that allowed Head Coach Kiera Wooden to call a timeout and set the offense with 33 seconds to play. Facing a three-point deficit, the Warriors were forced to foul and make West Chester earn the victory from the charity stripe. Speller and Bruno combined to go 4-for-4 from the line over the last 19 seconds to seal the 84-77 victory on Wednesday night.
Boehner's 21 points led four West Chester scorers in double figures and marked the second time this season that she has scored over 20 points in a game.
Mia Hopkins (Pittston, Pa. / Pittston) and Speller each tallied 18 points in the win, with Hopkins adding a team-high eight boards. Off the bench, Bruno handed out a team-high five assists to go along with 15 points, while
Katherine Fisher (Ruttedge, Pa. / Strath Haven) logged six points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field.
The Golden Rams' 54% (29-of-54) shooting from the field on Wednesday is the second best mark for the squad this season and their 9-of-19 (47%) clip from beyond the arc is second only to the 52% mark they put up against Clarion in November.
ESU's Imani Brown led all scorers with 23 points, while adding a team-high eight rebounds and six assists in the loss.
