INSTITUTE, W.V.- Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) tied Patti Gruber's 1990 performance for second in points scored in a single game with a career-high 38 on 17-of-22 shooting from the field but it was not enough as West Virginia State (2-0) used its first-half lead to hold on for a 107-102 victory over West Chester (0-2) on Sunday afternoon.
Johnson's 38-point effort was the most points scored in a single-game by a Golden Ram since Destiny Jefferson scored 33 vs East Stroudsburg in January 2019. Johnson scored 26 of her 38 points in the second half, including 20 of the Golden Rams 36 points in the fourth quarter comeback effort. As a team, West Chester saw four players score in double figures while nine different player recorded points to help lead West Chester ot its best single-game scoring output since 2017-18 season when the Golden Rams put up 106 points in an early season win over Clarion. This performance marks just the third time in which West Chester has scored over 100 points in a game since 2014, which was head coach
Kiera Wooden's first-year at the helm of the Golden Rams. This is also tied for the second-best scoring output over that stretch, matching the 102 points, which West Chester also put up in Wooden's debut victory over Concordia on November 14, 2014.
West Chester trailed by as many as 21 points (76-55) with just 2:34 to play in the third period before mounting its comeback. West Chester outscored West Virginia State 11-3 to close out the third period, led by four points from Johnson during that run before outscoring the host Yellow Jackets 36-28 in the fourth quarter, nearly completing an improbable comeback.
In the fourth, West Chester shot an impressive 65.0 % (13-of-20) from the field and 4-of-6 from beyond the arc while also going a perfect 6-for-6 at the line, completing a perfect half of free throw shooting at 8-for-8 in the final 20 minutes of basketball.
West Chester found itself in an early hole, trailing 8-0 just over a minute into the contest, prompting a quick timeout by the Golden Rams in an attempt to halt the West Virginia State momentum. Following the timeout, West Virginia State continued to extend its lead, stretching the advantage to 19-8 with 2:49 to play in the first quarter. West Chester closed the first quarter on a 10-4 run thanks to 3-of-5 shooting from the field, including four points on the run from
Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) to trim the deficit to 23-18 heading into the second quarter.
West Chester continued its comeback to open the third when
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) hit a three off an assist from
Alexa Abbonizio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) before
Maya Carter (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) made a layup to bring West Chester all the way back and tie the score at 23-23 early in the second. West Virginia State countered with a quick 5-0 run of its own to retake a 28-23 lead, prompting another early second quarter timeout by the Golden Rams. As the quarter wore on, West Chester and West Virginia State continued to trade makes but it was the Yellow Jackets who were able to carry a 52-45 lead into the halftime break.
West Virginia State opened the second-half strong, scoring seven of the first nine points of the third quarter, before eventually taking its largest lead of the game late in the third before the Golden Rams began their comeback effort, which nearly brought the team all the way back, eventually falling 107-102 at the end of regulation.
Morgan Warley (West Chester, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) scored in double figures for the first time this season, finishing with 13 points while McAteer and Carter chipped in 10 points each in the setback.
For West Virginia State, Shelby Harmeyer, who made her first start of the young season on Sunday afternoon led the Yellow Jackets with 27 points as one of six players in double figures, which was crucial in holding off the late charge by the Golden Rams. Harmeyer, registered a double-double in the victory, coming away with 10 rebounds while her teammate, Emyah Fortenberry finished with a game-high 14 rebounds in the victory.
In stark contrast to a night ago, West Chester shot well in all areas on Sunday afternoon, shooting 54.3 % (38-of-70) from the field, including a 69.2 % shooting effort in the second quarter to go along with the 65 % effort in the fourth while also shooting 75.0 % (6-of-8) from beyond the arc and 83.3 % (20-of-24) from the line with the lone four misses coming during the second quarter of action.
For its part, West Virginia State shot 40.6 % (39-of-96) from the field and 34.0 % (16-of-47) from beyond the arc while also shooting 72.2 % (13-of-18) from the line.
Despite nine-rebound efforts from McAteer and Johnson, nearly resulting in a double-double for McAteer and a triple-double for Johnson (also finished with nine assists), West Virginia State was able to win the rebounding battle, outrebounding West Chester 50-42, including a 30-14 lead on the offensive glass, which led to a 26-14 advantage in second-chance points.
Up Next:
West Chester will have a full week until its next game, a welcome break for the Golden Rams after battling with Glenville State until just shy of midnight on Saturday before a quick turnaround against West Virginia State this afternoon, heading to Chestnut Hill for a 1 p.m. start on Sunday to conclude a three-game road swing to open the 2022-23 season.
