WASHINGTON, D.C.- The West Chester women's basketball team (3-7) will return to action next Tuesday afternoon on the road at Division I George Washington (6-6) in its final game of 2021 and the final non-league game of the year.
FAN INFORMATION
UPDATE Sunday, December 26, 2021:
George Washington announced an update to its currrent fan attendance policy on Sunday evening, stating that all home events through January 17th will be held without ticketed fans. The full release is available
here.
While fans will be unable to make the trip to D.C. to watch the Golden Rams, the game will be streamed on
ESPN+ (subscription required), while live stats will be available via this
link.
FLOCK TALK
West Chester and George Washington have minimal history with one another, having met just once in their respective histories during the 1979-80 season in an early-December game played at Loyola (Md.). In this neutral-site contest, West Chester was the designated home team but fell to the Colonials by a final of 80-62, for what its first loss of the season at the time under head coach Ellen Sayers, who was in her first of five seasons at the helm of the Purple and Gold.
Entering play on Tuesday evening, West Chester has dropped each of its last four contests, including a heartbreaking loss at the hands of Slippery Rock on Sunday, December 19
th. In this road contest, West Chester and Slippery Rock engaged in another classic battle as they have so many times in recent years, and despite leading for much of the game, West Chester fell by a 57-56 final. This narrow one-point loss marked the second year in a row in which Slippery Rock has bested the Golden Rams by the slimmest of margins, after defeating the Purple and Gold in overtime in 2019-20 (78-77), while it is the third straight meeting between the two teams to be decided by one basket or less. Despite the setback,
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) turned in another stellar performance, scoring 20 points while also tying her career-high for rebounds with 12 boards, for her third double-double of the year and second of the week. As a team, West Chester shot 35.0 % from the field and 25.0 % from beyond the arc, including a difficult fourth-quarter shooting performance, which saw the team shoot just 4-of-16 from the field while going 0-for-4 from three-point territory.
On the year as a whole, West Chester, who enters play averaging 64.5 points per game, has proven itself as one of the top three-point shooting units in the PSAC, ranking third in the Conference in shooting at 32.7 % on the year while holding its opponents to the second-lowest three-point shooting percentage in the league 25.0 %. The Golden Rams have also improved their rebounding tremendously throughout the season; after being outrebounded by an average of 9.6 rebounds per game through the first five games of the year, West Chester has won the rebounding battle in four of its last five games, including a +7 advantage in the loss at Cal on Saturday the 18
th.
A balanced attack has been a key factor for WCU throughout the season, as the team has had at least two players in double figures in every game so far this season, while they have had three or more players in double figures in five of 10 games to open the year. Johnson (SO/G) has played a significant role in this, scoring in double figures in nine of 10 games so far this season, including three 20+ point efforts to lead the team in both 10+ and 20+ point performances. While
Kyra Jefferson (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom) has the lone other 20+ point scoring effort to her credit this season (team-high 21 vs Pitt-Johnstown),
Alexa Abbonizio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) has had a strong rookie season, scoring in double figures in six of 10 games this year including five of her last six games. Abbonizio, who has already led the team in scoring twice this season with a pair of 15-point efforts vs Jefferson and IUP, also has a tremendous 16-point effort, which remains her career-high from the season-opening victory over Wheeling to look back upon entering the second half of the 2021-22 season. Abbonizio and Johnson are two of a number of young players making a substantial impact for West Chester this season in their first seasons of college basketball, as
Maya Carter (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt), Morgan Warley (West Chester, Pa./Villa Maria Academy), and
Alexis Gleason (Clifton Heights, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendergast) have all turned in double-figure scoring efforts this season for West Chester as well with Carter and Warley, eclipsing the 10-point plateau twice already in their rookie campaigns while Gleason climbed over 10 points once already this season.
Two-sport athlete
Abby Penjuke (Collegeville, Pa./Methacton), who also plays for the Reigning PSAC and Atlantic Region Champions West Chester softball team, has also had a good first year on the hardwood for West Chester, entering play averaging 5.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, after earning a spot in the starting lineup earlier this season. Penjuke has also led the team in rebounding twice already this season, pulling down seven in the victory over Wheeling before registering a season-high eight at Cal on 12/18.
SCOUTING GEORGE WASHINGTON
George Washington enters play on Tuesday, having not played since Tuesday, December 21
st, when the team fell to Preseason Patriot League Favorite Lehigh by a final of 70-57. In this contest, GW remained close throughout and closed to within three points with just under five minutes to play in regulation. Still, Lehigh showed why it was picked as the favorite to win the Patriot League crown, closing the game on a 13-3 run to escape the Smith Center with a 70-57 triumph. Kyara Frames led George Washington in scoring with a team-high 14 points, while Faith Blethen added 10 of her own on a perfect 3-for-3 (2-for-2 from deep) shooting performance in the setback. As a team, George Washington shot 31.7 % from the field and just 55.6 % from the line while also being outrebounded 46-33 in the setback.
Under the tutelage of new head coach Caroline McCombs, GW has shown signs of progress, entering play at .500 (6-6) on the year while allowing just 55.5 points per game to remain in contests throughout, despite scoring just 51.2 per game on the offensive end. The Colonials have not shot particularly well in any of the three phases of the game this year, with perhaps their most impressive percentage being from outside the arc, where they have shot 31.1 % as compared to their 34.5 % field-goal percentage and 67.1 % free-throw percentage. This season, George Washington has done a good job of getting a few extra possessions for itself, entering play with a +0.3 edge in rebounding margin and a +0.5 edge in turnover margin.
George Washington, who enters play averaging just north of 50 points per game (51.2 PPG), has been relatively balanced offensively this season, as Puerto Rico native Sheslaine Laureano currently leads the team in scoring averaging 8.2 points per game. Frames, who led the team in scoring on Tuesday, December 21
st, is third on the squad in averaging 6.5 points per game, following her 14-point outburst. Frames is also the team's assist leader, averaging 1.6 helpers per game, while Laureano leads the team in steals, averaging 1.9 thefts per contest. Tyasia Moore, who registered just two rebounds in the loss vs. Lehigh (Taylor Webster led with 10 rebounds), is the team's leading rebounder this season, entering play averaging 8.0 rebounds per contest, just ahead of Mayowa Taiwo, who averages 7.1 per game.
NEXT UP
For both West Chester and George Washington, this contest will serve as a final tuneup before league plays begins in earnest in the New Year, with GW opening A10 Play on New Years Day vs St. Louis while the Golden Rams will return to PSAC action on January 5
th at Kutztown.
