Spectator Information
BLOOMSBURG, Pa.- After snapping a six-game losing streak on Wednesday evening vs Millersville, the West Chester women's basketball team (4-9, 2-5) will look to continue its winning ways at Bloomsburg on Saturday afternoon. Opening tip in this contest is set for 1 p.m. inside Nelson Field House as it will be the first game of a doubleheader between the Golden Rams and Huskies with the men's game to follow at 3 p.m.
The Series
In the all-time series, Bloomsburg enters play on Saturday with a narrow 43-40 edge over the Golden Rams after narrowly earning a win in the last meeting during the 2019-20 season, by a 56-55 final to earn a split of the season series. The two teams are deadlocked at 14-14 over the last 28 meetings, however, Bloomsburg has had the upper hand in the series as of late, winning three of the last four meetings between the two teams.
In 2019-20, West Chester and Bloomsburg each registered road wins over each other as the Golden Rams ventured to Nelson Field House in Mid-January and escaped with a win before Bloomsburg returned the favor with a narrow one-point win inside Hollinger Field House. In this victory, Bloomsburg raced out to an early lead and took a commanding 17-point (29-12) lead into the halftime break, but West Chester stormed back in the second half to even the score and force overtime. In the extra session, West Chester and Bloomsburg traded makes but it was Bloomsburg who would score the final basket as the Huskies earned the narrow one-point victory.
Justyn Roberts (Harrisburg, Pa./C.D. East) and
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) were the two Golden Rams in double figures in this contest as Roberts scored a team-high 18 while Johnson added 14 of her own in the setback.
Flock Talk
On Wednesday evening vs Millersville, the Golden Rams and Marauders traded makes in a game that featured nine lead changes as neither team was able to take a commanding lead. Despite the back and forth nature of the contest, West Chester outscored its guests 30-23 in the second half and withstood a late charge by the Marauders to earn the 59-54 midweek victory. Johnson had a career-night for the Golden Rams, pouring in a career-high 27 points while also coming away with a game-high six assists, six rebounds, and a career-high six steals in the victory. Freshman
Alexa Abbonizio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) continued her strong play as of late, registering another double-digit scoring output with 15 points for her eighth double-figure performance of the year and seventh in the last nine games. As a team, West Chester shot 35.1 % from the field and 42.9 % from three-point range while also ending the game with advantages in points off turnovers (25-13) and fast break points (20-8).
As a team, West Chester ranks in the bottom half of the league in points per game, averaging just 60.6 per contest; however, the Golden Rams continue to be among the best in the league from three-point range on both sides of the ball. Offensively, West Chester is shooting 32.2 % from deep, which trails only Shepherd and Kutztown, placing the Golden Rams third in the league in this category. On the defensive end, West Chester has continually shown itself to be a stingy unit, allowing opponents to shoot just 24.7 % from beyond the arc, which ranks second-best in the PSAC, trailing only East rival Bloomsburg.
Scouting Bloomsburg
Bloomsburg enters play on Saturday afternoon, as a dangerous adversary for the Golden Rams having won each of its last six games including victories over Shepherd and most recently Kutztown on Wednesday evening. Against Kutztown on Wednesday night, Bloomsburg took a 32-21 lead into the halftime break but Kutztown would not go away quietly, starting the second half on a 15-4 run, which spanned eight and a half minutes to even the score at 36-36 late in the third. Bloomsburg regained the lead quickly with a pair of made free throws by Nya Johnson, which gave the Huskies the lead back for good. Bloomsburg outscored Kutztown 21-16 in the final quarter of play to erase a difficult third quarter performance and earn a critical 62-52 victory. Meghan Corridoni led Bloomsburg in scoring with 17 points while Allison Hileman added 12 of her own to help the Huskies earn the upset victory.
Corridoni has been a consistent force for Bloomsburg throughout the season, entering play second on the team in scoring, averaging 13.4 points per game while teammate Emma Saxton is first on the squad, averaging 13.9 points per game. In addition to her scoring, Corridoni also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 8.3 rebounds per contest while Saxton is second in this category, averaging 6.9 per game. Saxton also leads the team in assists (4.4/G) and steals (1.9/G), making her a difficult opponent to truly neutralize during the course of a game.
As documented above, Bloomsburg does an excellent job in limiting its opponents three-point shooting, holding teams to an average of just 22.5 % from beyond the arc on the year, which is best in the league and just ahead of the Golden Rams 24.7 %. This three-point defense is vital to the Huskies success as they themselves only average 61.1 points per game, but they have managed to hold opponents to an average of just 58.5 points per contest, which has allowed them to go 10-7 to this point in the season.
Up Next
Following this game, West Chester will need to immediately shift its attention its next opponent as the upset-minded East Stroudsburg Warriors await the Golden Rams visit on Monday evening.
