WEST CHESTER, Pa.- West Chester women's basketball will continue its non-conference slate on Saturday afternoon when the Golden Rams welcome the Tigers of Salem University. West Chester enters this contest looking to halt a two-game losing streak that is equal to the longest losing streak the Golden Rams experienced in 2018. Should West Chester drop its third game in as many tries that will give West Chester its longest losing streak since the 2016-17 season when West Chester dropped four in a row in early December of that season. West Chester enters play off a hard fought loss at the hands of the No. 14 U Sciences Devils on Wednesday night inside Hollinger Field House. West Chester hung around throughout and the Golden Rams attempted to make a late run in the fourth quarter, but it proved to be too little too late in the 77-70 loss. West Chester's guest this afternoon-Salem University is entering play off its third consecutive loss to open the season with the most recent setback coming on the road against Davis and Elkins on Wednesday evening by a final of 83-63.
On Wednesday night, against U Sciences West Chester opened the scoring to claim its first lead of the game in the opening minutes of the first quarter before trading baskets with the Devils in a quarter that saw three ties and three lead changes between the two teams. Late in the first quarter, Sciences went on a run, which allowed the Devils to take a 21-13 lead into the second quarter. In the second quarter, each side had its mistakes but by and large it was a closely contest affair as the Devils ended the quarter outscoring the Golden Rams by just one (12-11) to take a 33-24 lead into the halftime break. As has been a habit for the Devils in 2018 the third and fourth quarter were very close throughout as West Chester worked to mount a comeback seeking to knock off its ranked guests on Wednesday night. West Chester was outscored by just one again in the third (19-18), which kept the game within reach heading to the fourth quarter of play. In the final quarter, the West Chester defense played arguably its best quarter of the game forcing U Sciences into multiple costly mistakes, which allowed West Chester to trim the deficit to as few as five late in the contest. However, as close games often do the result came down to free throws as West Chester needed to stop the clock late in the quarter. Unfortunately, the Devils were very consistent at the line throughout the evening shooting a solid 15-for-21 (71.4 %) and never missing back-to-back free throws, which enabled U Sciences to pick up the 77-70 victory over its hosts.
Gabrielle Troisi was the leading scorer once again for West Chester adding 16 points while freshman teammate Zhane Show had another strong performance pouring in 15 points of her own on 6-of-9 shooting including a perfect 2-for-2 from deep.
The trio of Troisi,
Destiny Jefferson, and Snow have been a solid combination for West Chester in 2018 as they are the Golden Rams three leading scorers averaging 16.3, 13.3, and 11.7 points per game, respectively. Troisi is also the teams leading rebounder in 2018 averaging 10 rebounds a game followed
Katherine Fisher and
Justyn Roberts who are averaging 4.7 and 4.0 rebounds per contest, respectively. As a team, West Chester is shooting 39.7 % from the field and 29.1 % from three-point range while also shooting 68.1 % from the charity stripe.
Salem is entering this afternoons contest off its third straight loss to open the season as the Tigers fell to Davis and Elkins (D&E) on Wednesday night by a final score of 83-63. Salem trailed early in this contest as its hosts stormed out of the gates outscoring the Tigers 23-12 over the course of the opening 10 minutes of play. The second quarter was a much closer affair as the two teams battled with Salem looking to get back into the game while its hosts looked to extend the lead. The lead did grow in this quarter as Salem only mustered another 12 points while D&E scored 14 points of its own to carry a 37-24 lead to the halftime break. In the third quarter, Salem struggled once again as its hosts outscored them 25-16 to open up a commanding 62-40 lead heading to the final quarter of the play. In the fourth quarter, with the outcome all but decided Salem went on a run outscoring its hosts 23-21 to try and cut into the lead, however, it proved to be too little too late as D&E used its early momentum to roll to the 83-63 victory. The Tigers shot a dismal 28.6 % from the field and a disappointing 46.3 % from the charity stripe in the loss on Wednesday night. Alicia Smith was the team's leading scorer registering 19 points while also coming away with three rebounds. The only other Tiger to enter double-figures was Endia Jones who recorded 10 points of her own while pulling down seven rebounds. D&E did manage to outrebound its guests in this contest ending the game with a plus-nine advantage on the glass.
For the year, Salem is shooting just over 32 % from the field and a touch over 31 % from long-range while its opponents are shooting 41.4 % from the field a low 25.5 % from deep. Salem has also had its challenges at the line this season as the Tigers have shot just 53.1 % from the charity stripe while its opponents are shooting an average of 67.5 %.
Following this game West Chester will travel to Lincoln on Tuesday evening with that game scheduled to get underway at 6 p.m. After this one-game road trip West Chester will return home on Sunday, November 25
th to face Holy Family before heading back out on the road to face Jefferson in a midweek game the next week.
