WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester women's basketball team is finalizing its preparations for its Saturday evening matchup against Wheeling University on Day 1 of the Carol Eckman Classic. When West Chester takes the court for its 6:30 battle against the Cardinals, it will be the Golden Rams first game in 623 days.
Fans are reminded that West Chester University Athletics does require all spectators to wear masks when in attendance at any indoor athletic events, regardless of vaccination status.
Additionally, all 2021-22 West Chester women's basketball games will be broadcast via radio on WCHE1520AM (listen online at wche1520.com) with live streams available on the PSAC Sports Digital Network.
Head coach
Kiera Wooden expressed excitement for the Golden Rams return to the hardwood, saying, "It's a long time coming. The last time we took the floor, it was the end of what wasn't our best year, and we have had to sit with that taste. We are eager to and excited, and we have been working hard. The team that left pre-COVID is not the same team we have now. We have gotten bigger, faster, stronger, and developed even better chemistry. We are eager to get back out on the court and see what it looks like, especially against a pair of good basketball teams this weekend," said Wooden.
West Chester will open its 2021-22 slate against Wheeling at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday evening before hosting Glenville State, who will open the Eckman with a game against Bloomsburg on Saturday afternoon at 4:30, on Sunday at 12 p.m.
West Chester's last time on the court was February 29
th at East Stroudsburg, a contest that West Chester dropped by a 51-43 final. Alexis Anderson scored 13 in this contest to lead the Golden Rams in scoring, while
Justyn Roberts led the way in rebounding for the second time on the season. This setback was the end of a season, which saw West Chester play to a record of 9-18 overall and just 7-15 in league play, missing the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament for the first time in Coach Wooden's tenure at the helm.
In 2019-20, West Chester averaged 65.1 points per game while shooting .402 from the field and .291 from three-point land. The Golden Rams also ended the year with a .736 free-throw shooting percentage, 35.1 rebounds per game, and a +3.2 turnover margin after proving themselves to be one of the better defensive units in the league, averaging 9.2 steals per game a season ago. This 9.2 steal per game average ranked West Chester fourth in the PSAC and second in the PSAC East in steals per game thanks in large part to a 2.1 steal per contest average from All-Conference selection,
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame), which ranked third in the PSAC a season ago. Johnson, who had a breakout freshman season en route to a Second-Team All-Conference honor, appeared and started in all 27 games while averaging 11.8 points per contest and shooting a team-best .317 from three-point territory. Johnson scored in double figures in 17 of 27 games during her rookie season and led the Golden Rams in scoring in eight games while also serving as the team's leading rebounder in four games a season ago.
In addition to the return of Johnson, West Chester also welcomes back several veteran players including,
Tacari Talford (Robesonia, Pa./Conrad Weiser), Kyra Jefferson (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom), Sarah Holweg (West Pittston, Pa./Wyoming Area), Justyn Roberts (Harrisburg, Pa./C.D. East), and Nancy Ruf (Fair Lawn, N.J./Fair Lawn) who bring experience and leadership to the youthful Golden Ram roster, which also includes 10 players embarking upon their first seasons of college basketball. Behind Johnson, Roberts is the team's other top returning scorer from a year ago as she averaged 9.8 points per game while also averaging 4.2 rebounds per contest.
"Leah is our lone all-conference player from last year, she had a great freshman year, and I think it just made her more hungry," started Wooden. She is truly a gym rat, and I think she put in more work over the pandemic than any player I have coached. I'll look to her to have an even bigger and better year than she had as a freshman. She is also more than just a threat on the offensive end. We will be looking to her for her defensive ability, leadership, and communication with the younger players to help lead us throughout this season. Kyra and Justyn also provide outstanding leadership as co-captains who have started throughout their careers. Their leadership is critical to help mold our younger players and show them the way we do things/set expectations early that they can follow to be successful in our program," explained Wooden.
Youth will be a significant factor for West Chester this upcoming season as
Abby Penjuke (Collegeville, Pa./Methacton), Alexa Abbonizio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield), Kaziah Ross (Binghamton, N.Y./Binghamton), Alana Boyer (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquenita), Maya Carter (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt), Morgan Warley (West Chester, Pa./Villa Maria Academy), Rayah Fink (Dover, Pa./Dover), Alexis Gleason (Clifton Heights, Pa./Msgr. Bonner and Prendergast), and
Rachel Conran (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) embark upon their first seasons wearing the Purple and Gold.
"The good thing is that we don't worry too much about age. The goal is to win games and put the best five out there to put us in a good position to win games. We will look for them to play fearless do what we recruited them to do. They are a level-headed group, so I'm not too worried about our youth, plus the returners we do have help us to blend everything nicely," said Wooden.
Bink Redman (York, Pa./William Penn) is also a newcomer to the Golden Ram lineup; however, she is far from a newcomer to PSAC basketball as she joins the Golden Rams after playing her first few seasons at Lock Haven. During her career at Lock Haven, Redman averaged 8.2 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per contest, ranking her 10th in the PSAC and fourth in the PSAC East in rebounding at the 2019-20 season.
"Bink (Redman) is a big get for us, especially on our defensive end. She fits into our pace very well and creates havoc on defense. She is also a good rebounding guard and a very unselfish point guard," said Wooden.
In the PSAC East preseason poll released during the month of October, Wooden's contemporaries picked the Golden Rams to finish seventh in the PSAC East. Shippensburg, who captured the PSAC Eastern division crown at the end of the 2019-20 season with a 21-9 overall record (17-5 PSAC), secured the top spot in the preseason poll with five of the available nine first-place votes. Shepherd secured the second spot in the rankings, followed by Kutztown, East Stroudsburg, and Lock Haven to round out the top five.
"We don't worry too much about the preseason poll. The coaches that vote on that don't necessarily know who is on our roster when trying to vote, so it can be a bit of a toss-up. I am more concerned with where we finish at the end of the season than where we begin," said Wooden.
After making its season debut at the Carol Eckman Tournament, West Chester will hit the road and travel to Lincoln on November 17
th before coming home to host Chestnut Hill on the 21
st in the team's final game before Thanksgiving. After the Thanksgiving Holiday, the Golden Rams will return to action with a road trip to Jefferson on November 29
th in what will be a final non-league tuneup before the business of PSAC play begins on December 3
rd with a home against Pitt-Johnstown before remaining home on December 4
th to host IUP in its last home game of 2021. The Purple and Gold will conclude the 2021 half of their schedule with the first four games of a six-game road trip, which will include visits to Seton Hill (12/14), Cal (Pa.) (12/18), Slippery Rock (12/19), and Division I foe George Washington (12/28).
The Golden Rams will open 2022, similarly to which they concluded 2021, with a pair of road games at Kutztown and Shepherd on January 5
th and 8
th before returning home to host rival Shippensburg on January 10
th. This matchup vs. the Raiders will begin a busy three-game week, and four-game homestand for West Chester as the Golden Rams will remain home to face Edinboro on the 12
th, Mansfield on the 15
th, and Millersville on the 19
th before departing for another two-game road trip, which will take them to Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg on January 22
nd and 24
th, respectively. Wooden's charges are scheduled to make a brief stop at home for a game vs. Lock Haven on the 26
th before concluding January on the road with a visit to Mansfield on the 29
th to conclude the season series with the Mounties. West Chester will open the month of February with a home game against Shepherd (2/2) before heading to Shippensburg on the 9
th to conclude its season series with the Raiders. West Chester is scheduled to complete its 2021-22 season with three of its final five games inside Hollinger Field House, as the Golden Rams will host Bloomsburg (2/12), Kutztown (2/16), and East Stroudsburg (2/26) while traveling to Lock Haven (2/19) and Millersville (2/23) on what will be their final road trip of the season.
"Overall, I think we are young but very talented," said Wooden. "We have a good mix of returners led by Leah, Justyn, and Kyra, who are good returning veteran leaders for us. We do have a lot of young players with really two classes of freshmen, but these players have been playing well through our preseason and have played well beyond their years, which has been impressive. We have also had the chance to play a lot of different styles of play in our scrimmages, so I think we have seen everything we are going to see this upcoming season," concluded Wooden.
As always, fans are encouraged to visit wcupagoldenrams.com and follow West Chester Athletics on social media for all the latest news and notes on the Golden Rams varsity athletic programs.
