Golden Rams Top Shippensburg for Eighth Straight Victory

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SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. -  Eyeing its eighth victory in a row, the West Chester University women's basketball team embarked on the Heiges Field House on Saturday afternoon to battle Shippensburg University in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East Division showdown.

Saturday's contest featured a Golden Rams squad that leads the PSAC in scoring at 81.5 points per game, against a Raiders team that ranks near the bottom of the league in scoring defense – allowing opponents to score an average of 71 points/outing. Despite the obvious advantage in scoring margin, West Chester was tasked on Saturday with having to try and slow down Shippensburg's freshman standout Ariel Lewis, who entered the game ranking third in the conference in scoring (20.4/game).

Thanks to another huge game by Mia Hopkins (Pittston, Pa. / Pittston) and clutch shooting down the stretch from Porscha Speller (Lancaster, Pa. / Lancaster Catholic) and Lexi Bruno (Millville, N.J. / Millville), the Golden Rams downed the Raiders 82-74 on Saturday to push West Chester to 13-4 overall behind a 10-3 mark in conference play. Following a East Stroudsburg victory over Kutztown earlier today, Saturday's eight-point victory over Shippensburg helps West Chester maintain its one-game advantage over the Warriors atop the PSAC East standings.

With the score knotted at 8-8 in the first quarter, the home team scored six-unanswered points to take the slim 14-8 advantage with just under three minutes remaining in the opening frame The Golden Rams stormed back to square the game at 17-17, before a layup on the break by Justyn Roberts (Harrisburg, Pa. / C.D. East) put WCU on top 19-17 with just 17 seconds to go. The first quarter ended with Shippensburg's Kasey Engle converting on a layup underneath to knot the contest at 19-19 heading into the second stanza.

The Golden Rams' defense put the clamps on the Raiders in the second quarter, holding the home team to just two points over the final five-plus minutes.  After Camden Boehner (Gettysburg, Pa. / Gettysburg) dropped in a triple to put West Chester up 16, back-to-back free throws by Bruno capped a big 19-2 run for the visitors to put the Golden Rams on top 48-30 after two quarters.  

WCU continued to apply pressure in the third quarter and managed to build a lead as many as 19 points on three separate occasions. Although down big, Shippensburg kept its focus and slowly began to chip away at the deficit in the waning moments of the third. Down 60-41 with 3:44 to play, the Raiders ended the third frame on a 12-2 run to hack the Golden Rams' lead to 10 (64-54) entering the final stanza.

Following back-to-back free throws by Ariel Jones, Shippensburg was able to trim its deficit to just four points with a shade over a minute remaining. Forced to foul, the Raiders sent Bruno and Speller to the charity stripe, where the seniors both went 2-for-2 to put the Golden Rams on top by eight (80-72) with just 38 seconds remaining in regulation. Up seven late, Speller converted on one more free throw with 16 seconds left to seal the 82-74 victory for West Chester on the road.

Hopkins led the Golden Rams with 19 points on Saturday to go along with six boards and a team-high five assists and three steals. Boehner chipped in 13 points against the Raiders, while Roberts (12) and Bruno (11) combined for 23 points off the bench.

West Chester converted 48% (32-of-67) of its shots from the field, but managed just a 4-of-21 (19%) clip from beyond the arc. The Golden Rams held the 26-14 advantage in points off of turnovers and the visitor's bench outscored the Raiders 33-8 on the afternoon.

After going 0-of-5 in the first half, Ariel Jones ended the game with 19 points overall to tie Kryshell Gordy for the most on Shippensburg in the loss.