Follow the Golden Rams!
@WCUAthletics
/WCUAthletics
/WCUAthletics
/wcupais1
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. -Â The West Chester University women's basketball team took a step outside of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division on Wednesday, as the Golden Rams headed West to battle the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown inside the UPJ Sports Center.
Despite trailing for a majority of the contest, West Chester managed to storm back on Wednesday night to tie the game at 53-53 to start the final frame. Fueled by eight points in the fourth from
Alexis Anderson (Allentown, Pa. / Louis E. Dieruff), the visiting Golden Rams outscored the host Mountain Cats 25-15 in the final stanza to claim the 78-68 victory in PSAC crossover action.
Wednesday's win marks the ninth in a row for the Golden Rams and pushes WCU to 14-4 overall behind an 11-3 mark in conference outings. Pairing the victory over UPJ with a loss tonight by East Stroudsburg, West Chester's lead the PSAC Eastern Division now stands at two games.
The Mountain Cats started the game up 8-3, before
Porscha Speller (Lancaster, Pa. / Lancaster Catholic) and
Katherine Fisher (Ruttedge, Pa. / Strath Haven) teamed up to score the next six points of the quarter to put the visitors on top 9-8 with 5:26 to play in the opening frame. Trailing by one, the home team ran off the next seven-unanswered points to reclaim the lead (15-9) with just under two minutes to play. WCU's
Camden Boehner (Gettysburg, Pa. / Gettysburg) ended the first frame by connecting on three shots from the charity stripe to cut the Golden Rams deficit to just three (19-16) heading into the second.
West Chester hacked the UPJ lead to just two points (19-17) to start the second quarter but that would be as close the visiting team would get for the remainder of the first half. After Fisher free throws brought the Golden Rams within three (32-29) at the 1:22 mark, Pitt-Johnstown closed out the half with a long triple by Tori Moreland to put the Mountain Cats up 35-29 after the first 20 minutes of action.
The Golden Rams slowly began to chip away at the UPJ cushion in the third, eventually stringing together a 12-4 run to put West Chester on top 49-48 with a shade over two minutes to play in the frame. After Anderson converted a layup to knot the game at 51-51,
Gabrielle Troisi (Norristown, Pa. / Pope John Paul II) tacked on a field goal in the final moments of the third to give the visitors the 53-51 advantage entering the final quarter.
Although Pitt-Johnstown managed to tie the game at 53-53 in the fourth, the final frame belonged to the Golden Rams. With the score knotted at 53's, West Chester went on to outscore the Mountain Cats 25-15 over the final nine minutes to give WCU the 78-68 victory on the road.
Speller led four West Chester players in double figures with 18 points on Wednesday. Fisher, Anderson, and
Mia Hopkins (Pittston, Pa. / Pittston) all tallied 10 points in the win, while Hopkins pulled down a team-high 11 boards to give the senior her fifth double-double of the season.
Lexi Bruno (Millville, N.J. / Millville) notched nine points and a team-high six assists off the bench on Wednesday to lead a Golden Rams bench unit that outscored UPJ's reserves 24-21 overall.
As a team, WCU connected on 28-of-65 (43%) of its shots from the floor and on 32% (6-of-19) of its attempts from beyond the arc. West Chester was +7 (42-35) in points in the paint on Wednesday, while the visitors outscored the Mountain Cats 27-9 in points off of turnovers.
Pitt-Johnstown's Gabrielle Smith led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting and Olivia McCabe logged a double-double (16 points/14 rebounds) for UPJ in the loss.
