MANSFIELD, Pa.- Following its second victory in as many games over Lock Haven on Wednesday night, the West Chester women's basketball team (6-10, 4-6 PSAC) will look to extend its winning streak to three games with a visit to Mansfield (5-11, 4-8 PSAC) on Saturday afternoon with opening tip in that contest set for 1 p.m. This game will be the first game in a doubleheader inside Marion Decker Gymnasium as the West Chester men's basketball team will look to continue its winning ways against the Mounties beginning at 3 p.m.
Fan Information
Mansfield University Athletics is pleased to continue to welcome spectators to all home intercollegiate athletic contests.
As a reminder, all spectators, regardless of vaccination status, are required to wear a mask when attending any indoor athletic contests inside Decker Gymnasium. Masking by all spectators in attendance creates the safest possible atmosphere for the student-athletes, coaches, staff, team representatives, officials, and all other spectators.
Series Information
West Chester and Mansfield are no strangers to one another, however, the Golden Rams have had the upper hand in the series by a considerable margin, entering play with an overall record of 63-10 against the Mountaineers. Recent history in this series has not been particularly kind to Mansfield as West Chester has won 20 games in a row and is 25-1 against the Mounties dating back to the 2007-08 season.
In the last meeting between the two teams, which came during the 2019-20 season, West Chester held a slim lead through the early going, leading by just three points (34-31) heading into the halftime break before outscoring Mansfield 45-22 in the second half to claim a 79-52 victory in the second game of the season series.
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) and
Tacari Talfrod (Robesonia, Pa./Conrad Weiser) tied for the team lead in scoring with 13 points and five assists each while Johnson also led the team in assists with four in the victory. As a team, West Chester outshot Mansfield from the field and three-point range, ending the contest with a 47.5 % to 35.4 % field goal percentage and an even more impressive 58.8 % to 31.6 % three-point shooting percentage.
Flock Talk
West Chester enters play following another victory on Wednesday night, giving the team its second victory in as many tries and matching its season-best winning streak from earlier this year after dismantling Lock Haven at home by a final of 59-53. In this contest, West Chester raced out to an early lead, holding a 19-2 advantage after the first quarter and a 30-14 edge heading into the halftime break before Lock Haven began its comeback. The fourth quarter is when Lock Haven made its move, outscoring West Chester 30-18 in the final 10 minutes but a 12-of-13 performance from the line by the Golden Rams in the fourth quarter, which was the only time the team went to the line on the night was enough to allow the Purple and Gold to hold for the six-point win.
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) registered her sixth double-double of the year and second of the week with a career-high 27 points and 13 rebounds while
Alexa Abbonizio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) added 11 points of her own to help bolster the Golden Ram offense.
Following her standout, 27 point and 13 rebound effort vs Lock Haven on Wednesday for her second double-double of the week, Johnson is now in a tie for fourth in the league in double-doubles with six on the season. Johnson also resides in a tie for fourth in the league in 20-point performances, having registered six on the season, which is tied with Jamiyah Johnson of Slippery Rock and just one back of Marley McLaughlin of Shepherd who has registered seven 20+-point efforts so far this season. Johnson who continues to lead the team in most major categories, leading the way in scoring (16.6/G), rebounding (7.8/G), assists (4.9/G), and steals (2.6/G) ranks sixth in the league in scoring, and third in assists and steals. Abbonizio has also been something of a pleasant surprise for the Golden Rams this season, as she currently sits second on the team in scoring, averaging 10.8 points per game while ranking among the league leaders in three-point shooting, averaging 1.8 made three's per game, which is 10
th in the league with a 34.1 % three-point shooting percentage.
While West Chester remains in the middle of the pack in the PSAC in scoring, averaging just north of 60.0 points per game the Golden Rams continue to be among the league's best in three-point (31.2 %) and free throw (72.8 %) shooting, ranking fifth in each of these categories while holding opponents to the second lowest three-point shooting percentage (24.8 %) in the league trailing only Bloomsburg.
Mountaineer Mentions
Mansfield enters play on Saturday, following its fourth loss in a row this time falling to Kutztown by a 74-44 final inside Marion Decker Gymnasium. Similarly, to the manner in which West Chester vanquished Lock Haven, Kutztown opened up an early first half lead, outscoring its hosts 20-11 in the first quarter and 22-9 in the second to take a commanding 42-20 lead into the halftime break. In the second half, Mansfield attempted to mount a comeback, matching the Golden Bears with 13 points in the third quarter before being outscored by just eight points (19-11) in the fourth but it was not enough to overcome the first half deficit. Paige Whitfield led the Mounties in scoring in the setback as she has quite frequently this season, scoring 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting as the only Mansfield player in double figures in the loss. As a team, Mansfield shot just 23.7 % from the field and just 21.7 % from deep while also leaving a number of points at the free throw line, shooting just 57.9 % from the stripe in the loss.
As a team, Mansfield enters play on Saturday afternoon averaging 52.5 points per game while shooting 31.0 % from the field, 25.7 % from beyond the arc and just 58.8 % from the line entering the final month of the regular season. Jasmine Hilton and Paige Whitfield have each been key contributors for the Mounties this season, ranking first and second on the team in scoring, averaging 11.6 and 10.0 points per game while Hilton leads the team in rebounding (8.4/G) and steals (1.9/G) with Whitfield leading the squad in assists (2.7/G).
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action on Monday evening at Shepherd with opening tip in that contest set for 5:30 p.m.
