West Chester Wins 11th Straight; Downs Millersville 82-63

WEST CHESTER, Pa.-The West Chester University women's basketball team (16-4, 13-3 PSAC) squared off against PSAC East rival Millersville (10-10, 7-9 PSAC) on Wednesday night. The Golden Rams ultimately prevailed winning by a final score of 82-63 capturing their eleventh straight victory which is tied for the longest of head coach Kiera Wooden's career as a head coach. The last time Wooden's team won eleven games in a row was back in the 2015-16 season. The 2015-16 streak began back on January 9^th 2016 against East Stroudsburg and did not end until February 20^th when the Golden Rams fell to Millersville on the road.

The Golden Rams trailed only once which happened to be in the first quarter of play when Millersville held a slight 6-5 advantage this deficit lasted just 27 seconds as West Chester was quickly able to respond. This marks the second game in a row in which the Golden Rams have not trailed for more then thirty seconds en route to victory as West Chester trailed for only 24 seconds opposite Bloomsburg.

After trading baskets in the opening minutes of the first quarter West Chester went on an 9-0 run and gained a 14-6 lead thanks to three pointers from Mia Hopkins (Pittston, Pa./Pittston), and Porscha Speller (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Catholic ) as well as a big three point play from Camden Boehner (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg).  Following this run the Golden Rams and Marauders traded points through the final five minutes and change of the first quarter leaving the Golden Rams with a 24-17 lead at the end of the first.  

The second quarter was very evenly matched as the teams traded baskets and neither team managed to gain anything larger then a 5-0 run throughout the balance of the second quarter of play. At the half the Golden Rams held a 44-37 lead thanks to two double digit first half performances from Hopkins (11) and Speller (14).

In the first half, West Chester was able to shoot a respectable 41.2 percent from three-point land and a perfect 100.0 percent from the free throw line while the Marauders managed just 50 percent from the line while going 0-4 from beyond the arc.  

 West Chester opened on a 8-2 run which gave them a 52-39 lead with just over seven minutes to play in the third quarter. After trading buckets and runs for most of the next five minutes West Chester was able to close out the quarter with a 5-0 run thanks to a three pointer from PSAC East Co-Player of the week Hopkins with two seconds left to play in the third giving West Chester a decisive 65-48 lead heading to the fourth and final quarter of play.

In the fourth things began ominously as Millersville opened on a 10-2 run to seize early momentum but a quick six point run keyed by four points from Speller was enough to put West Chester back on solid ground with just over three minutes to play. In the waning moments the Golden Rams recorded a few insurance baskets after forcing a few late turnovers which allowed them to easily take the victory by a final score of 82-63.

Speller ultimately led all scorers with 25 thanks in large part to shooting a blistering 66.7 percent from three-point land.  Speller also pulled down seven rebounds while also coming away with two steals and a block.  Hopkins had a great day as well as she recorded 20 points while pulling down ten rebounds to record her third straight double-double. Hopkins also registered a team high four assists and a pair of steals to further assist the Golden Rams on their road to victory.

Boehner ultimately ended the contest with 13 points of her own while Katherine Fisher (Ruttedge, Pa./Strath Haven) posted 12 points as well.

From three-point range West Chester shot 39.1 percent compared to a paltry 16.7 percent from deep for Millersville.  In spite of this 16.7 percent Millersville did hold a slight advantage in overall field goal percentage as they recorded a percentage of 41.9 percent compared to 40.8 for West Chester.  The Golden Rams did hold a huge advantage from the charity stripe this evening as they converted on 88.2 percent of their chances (15-17) while the Marauders shot just 45 percent (9-20) from the charity stripe. West Chester also won the rebounding battle pulling down 45 rebounds compared to 41 from Millersville.

Millersville was led by Alayah Hall who scored 14 points while also recording six rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Kendra Bamberger also posted a double-double as she scored 10 points and recorded 10 rebounds as well. 

It was announced earlier this week that by virtue of their victory on Saturday the Golden Rams were the first team across both divisions (PSAC East and West) to clinch a spot in the PSAC postseason tournament.

West Chester takes to the road on Saturday afternoon when they visit Kutztown looking to extend their winning streak to 12 games in a row with that game getting underway at 1 pm. This winning streak began back on December 30^th when West Chester knocked off Kutztown inside Hollinger Field House in game one of the season series.   West Chester's next home game will be on Saturday February 10^th when they host Cheyney in their annual Play4Kay pink game.