WEST CHESTER, Pa.- After giving then No. 10 IUP all it could handle in its final home game of 2021 earlier in December, the West Chester women's basketball team (3-5, 1-2 PSAC) took to the road on Tuesday afternoon to play Seton Hill. The Golden Rams struggled throughout this contest, went 0-of-12 from three-point range, falling to the Griffins by a 73-53 final. This weekend, West Chester will look to rebound as it continues its PSAC West road trip with visits to California (Pa.) (6-1, 1-1 PSAC) and Slippery Rock (6-2, 2-1 PSAC) on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, respectively.
When West Chester visits with Cal on Saturday afternoon, it will be the team's sixth game against a regionally-ranked foe this season and the second such game this week after facing Seton Hill on Tuesday, who was listed as Receiving Votes in the latest D2Sida Atlantic Region Poll. Entering play, the Golden Rams are 1-4 against regionally-ranked opposition, with their lone victory coming on the road at Jefferson when the Rams were ranked fourth in the D2SIDA East Region poll.
West Chester has faced Cal and Slippery Rock a combined 49 times throughout its history, emerging victorious in 16 of those battles. Against Cal, West Chester is just 2-24 against the Vulcans, dating back to the 1998 season when the team started the series with a 71-60 victory. West Chester has dropped each of the last two meetings, including a 67-60 decision at home on December 20th in 2019. Against Slippery Rock, West Chester has also dropped each of its last two meetings (including a narrow one-point OT loss in 2019); however, West Chester retains the edge in the all-time series, holding a 14-9 advantage over the Rock.
Following a near-upset of No. 10 IUP, West Chester looked to keep its momentum going against PSAC West foe Seton Hill on the road on Tuesday afternoon. The Golden Rams struggled with their shooting in this contest, shooting a league-play worst 32.3 % from the field and 0-for-12 from range in a 20-point (73-53) setback.
Leah Johnson was the bright spot for West Chester in this loss, turning in her second double-double of the season with 17 points (7-of-12 FG) and 10 rebounds in the loss.
In league play, the guard trio of
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame),
Kyra Jefferson (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom), and
Alexa Abbonizio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) have been the squad's leading scorers through the first three games of the PSAC slate. Jefferson, who scored the most points of any Golden Ram in a league game this year with her 21 points in the victory over Pitt-Johnstown, leads the trio with 13.0 PPG scoring average while shooting 45.5 % from the field over that stretch. Johnson enters averaging 12.3 points per game in league play and 8.3 rebounds per game along with 5.6 assists after logging a conference-play high seven helpers vs IUP. Meanwhile, Abbonizio is the third and final Golden Ram to average north of 10 points per game in PSAC play so far this year, averaging 10.0 points per contest and 4.3 rebounds per game while also leading the team in three-point field goal percentage and field-goal percentage at 46.2 % from deep and 47.8 % from the field through the first three games.
Despite its struggles from beyond the arc on Tuesday afternoon, West Chester remains third in the PSAC in three-point field goal percentage (33.1 %) while ranking second in the league in three-point defense at 23.1 % on the season, trailing only the team that has already defeated both Cal and SRU in the Bloomsburg Huskies. To open league play, West Chester has done a good job of keeping its high-powered opponents in check, surrendering an average of just 63.7 points per game while scoring 59.0 points per game through these first three games. Both of these averages are down from the full season averages, as the Golden Rams have scored an average of 66.1 points per game while surrendering 69.4 through the first eight games of the season.
SCOUTING CAL
Cal enters this game a perfect 2-0 at home and riding a two-game winning streak following a 64-41 dismantling of Bowie State on Saturday, December 11th. In this contest, Dejah Terrell, who was later named PSAC West Athlete of the Week for her efforts, scored 32 points on 13-of-16 shooting and added seven rebounds to help lead the Vulcans to a convincing non-league victory. As a team, Cal shot an impressive 54.2 % from the field while shooting just 31.3 % from deep and 58.3 % from the stripe in the victory.
In league play, Cal currently sits at 1-1 on the year after splitting its opening weekend games, dropping an overtime contest at Bloomsburg (59-58) on December 3rd before a 40-point dismantling of East Stroudsburg (69-29) on December 4th. Terrell is with little question one of the top players in the league this season, entering play, averaging 19.4 points per game and 8.6 rebounds per game, both of which rank atop the team leaderboard. In addition to Terrell, Ciaira Loyd has also shown good versatility for the Vulcans so far this season, ranking second on the team in scoring, averaging 11.6 points per game while leading the team in rebounding, averaging just over five (5.1) rebounds per game to help bolster the Cal offense.
As a team, Cal enters play, averaging 72.3 points per game while holding its opponents to just under 50 (49.9) points per contest. From the field, Cal has outshot its opponents for much of the year, holding a 42.3 % to 33.1 % advantage; however, the Vulcans have struggled to shoot from three-point range and defend the three-point shot, as opponents are shooting 33.7 % against them while the Vulcans shoot just 25.2 % from deep. Extra possessions have been a major key for Cal so far this season, as the Vulcans enter play with a +5.3 advantage in rebounding and a +8.8 advantage in turnover margin.
SCOUTING SLIPPERY ROCK
For its part, Slippery Rock, who tested itself vs a pair of D1 opponents in its preseason schedule (No. 17 Ohio State and Akron), enters play this weekend, following a 14-point loss at the hands of Bloomsburg on December 4th. In this contest, the Rock never led, and Jamiyah Johnson was the only player to reach double digits, turning in a solid 15 point/15-rebound effort while shooting just 6-for-16 from the field (as a team SRU shot just 25.4 % from FG range) in the loss.
Johnson has been the almost unquestioned leader for the Rock this season, entering play averaging a double-double with 19.8 points per game and 15.5 rebounds per contest to help Slippery Rock open the season with a 6-2 record. In addition to Johnson, redshirt senior Daeja Quick has also enjoyed a solid start to the year for the Rock, ranking second on the team in scoring, averaging 14.0 points per game, while leading the team in assists and steals, averaging 4.0 assists and 2.6 steals per game to open the season.
As a team, Slippery Rock is somewhat similar to Cal in that the Rock is shooting 44.4 % from the field and averaging 68.9 points per game to open the season, despite shooting under 30 percent (27.3 %) from three-point range to open the season. Defensively, however, Slippery Rock has done a better job of limiting its opponents three-point shooting, holding the opposition to an average of just 29.3 % from deep and 36.8 % from the field, with a scoring average of 64.8 points per game to this point in the season.
Before facing West Chester on Sunday afternoon, Slippery Rock will face Kutztown on Saturday afternoon, looking to avoid a two-game losing streak for the first time this season.
UP NEXT
Following this contest, West Chester will have a break, which will last just over a week before returning to action on December 28
th against DI George Washington in the final game of 2021 for both teams, with that contest set to begin at 4 p.m. In her head coaching career, Head Coach
Kiera Wooden is 0-1 against Division I opponents with her first and only other matchup, coming on the road at Liberty during the 2018-19 season, a game in which the Golden Rams fell by a final of 61-42.
