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MANSFIELD, Pa. - Riding a conference-best 12 game winning streak, the West Chester University women's basketball team headed to the Decker Gymnasium on Thursday evening to square off against Mansfield University in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division showdown.
Powered by five players in double figures, the visiting Golden Rams managed to defeat the Mountaineers 80-59 on Thursday night to push WCU to 18-4 overall and 15-3 in conference action. Wednesday's victory marks the 22
nd-straight for West Chester over Mansfield overall and extends the Golden Rams' current win streak to 13 games – the longest for a WCU women's basketball team since the 1971-72 squad strung together 16 in a row under Head Coach Carol Eckman.
The host team started the game up 5-0 and eventually pushed the advantage to nine points (15-4) with 6:21 to play in the first quarter. Trailing 16-10, the Golden Rams ended the first by outscoring Mansfield 13-0 to take a 23-16 advantage into the second frame.
West Chester retained control for the duration of the second quarter and pushed its lead to as many as 17 points (39-22) after back-to-back free throws by
Katherine Fisher (Ruttedge, Pa. / Strath Haven) with under two minutes to play. The first half ended with a layup by
Lexi Bruno (Millville, N.J. / Millville) to put the visitors ahead 43-27 and cap a +9 scoring margin for West Chester in the second stanza.
Up 18, the visitors strung together a 7-0 spurt – capped off by a layup from
Gabrielle Troisi (Norristown, Pa. / Pope John Paul II) – at the 5:21 mark to give WCU its largest lead of the third quarter at 54-29. The Golden Rams maintained a comfortable cushion for the duration of the fourth and did not allow the home team to get any closer than 21 points for the entirety of the quarter en route to the 80-59 victory for West Chester on the road.
The Golden Rams connected on 28-of-59 (48%) of their shots from the floor and 36% (8-of-22) of their attempts from deep against the Mountaineers. The visitors doubled up Mansfield in points off turnovers (28-14) and overall turnovers (26-13), while WCU held a massive 15-4 advantage in steals on Thursday night.
Porscha Speller (Lancaster, Pa. / Lancaster Catholic)'s 15 points paced a Golden Rams offense that featured nine players that got into the scorebook. Troisi tallied a career-high14 points and nine boards in 33 minutes, while
Mia Hopkins (Pittston, Pa. / Pittston) (13) and
Camden Boehner (Gettysburg, Pa. / Gettysburg) (10) combined for 23 points in the win.
Mia Leonard led Mansfield with 15 points and eight rebounds in Thursday's loss.
NOTE: West Chester's doubleheader against Cheyney University on Saturday (2/10) at home will be both senior day and the Golden Rams' annual Play4Kay fundraiser game. Saturday's game will feature the return of the "Pink Zone" where $5 gets patrons five raffle tickets for great prize baskets and access to numerous games and activities. "Pink Zone" will open at noon, one hour before the start of the Golden Rams versus Lady Wolves game at 1:00 p.m.
