PHILADELPHIA, Pa.- Following its best scoring effort since the 2017-18 season, which was also the last time the team appeared in the NCAA Tournament, the West Chester women's basketball team (0-2) is finishing its preparations for a matchup at Chestnut Hill (2-1) on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
Series Information
West Chester holds a 2-1 lead in the all-time series against its non-league foes, with Sunday afternoon's meeting being just the fourth meeting all-time. In the first two games against the Griffins, West Chester had its way with its non-league rivals, winning both matchups and outscoring CHC by a combined 64 points in the two victories. A season ago, Chestnut Hill escaped with its first victory over the Golden Rams in its program history after trailing for much of the game and eventually outscoring West Chester 24-8 in the fourth, thanks in large part to a 14-0 run late in the game to pick up the victory. The game featured 13 ties and 13 lead changes as it was a tight, back-and-forth contest throughout the game.
Leah Johnson and
Morgan Warley led West Chester in scoring in the loss, finishing with 18 and 13, respectively. The big difference in this game was a 30 free throw advantage at the line as West Chester was sent to the line just three times while Chestnut Hill found a way to go to the stripe 32 times, going 30-for-32 in the comeback victory. Emily Chmiel, who leads the team in scoring again this season, posted a team-best 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including a 6-for-6 effort at the line.
On Sunday afternoon, West Chester will be looking to halt its losing streak and avoid its first 0-3 start to the year since the 2006-07 season. In that season, amid legendary head coach Deirdre Kane's tenure at the helm, the Golden Rams were able to right the ship after the difficult start to the year, finishing the season with a record of 15-13 and a PSAC Tournament appearance.
FLOCK TALK
Last weekend, West Chester opened the season away from home for the first time in recent memory, heading to the Atlantic Region Crossover Challenge hosted by West Virginia State in Institute, West Virginia. The Golden Rams opened the weekend against defending National Champion Glenville State on Saturday night and gave the Pioneers all they could handle, which included holding the lead at the half before returning to action on Sunday afternoon vs West Virginia State. Against the host Yellow Jackets, West Chester trailed by as many as 21 with just over 12 minutes to play in regulation but nearly came all the way back, eventually falling by a 107-102 final to go 0-2 on the weekend.
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) poured in a career-best 38 points, which also tied Patti Gruber (1990) for the second most points in a single game in program history while also serving as the most points scored by a Golden Ram in a game since Destiny Jefferson poured in 33 in 2019. Despite the setback, West Chester can take a lot of positives from its second game of the weekend, including its shooting performance, which saw the Golden Rams shoot 54.3 % from the field and 75.0 % (6-of-8) from three-point range in the setback.
Offensively, West Chester has been well-balanced this season, with five players averaging in double figures through the first two games of the year, led by Johnson's 25.0 points per game. Incoming transfers
Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) and
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) have made their presence felt right away this season, ranking second and third on the team in scoring with 12.0 and 11.5 point per game averages, respectively. McAteer also registered her first double-double as a Golden Ram in her first game wearing the Purple and Gold, going for 14 points and 11 rebounds in just 19 minutes of action vs Glenville State. This effort, coupled with a near double-double against WVSU, finishing with nine rebounds, has given her 20 rebounds on the year already, averaging ten rebounds per game through the first two contests.
Similarly to a year ago, Johnson has already provided more than just scoring to the Golden Rams, averaging 7.5 rebounds and 9.0 assists per game through the first two games of the year, nearly finishing with a double-double last Sunday at WVSU, ending the contest with nine assists and nine rebounds to go along with her 38 points.
Shot selection has been important for West Chester early this season, shooting 50.4 % from the field and 41.2 % from three, averaging 9.5 three-point attempts per game as the team is 7-for-17 from range on the year. West Chester has also done a good job of limiting its opponent's three-point shooting, holding the opposition to just a 36.0 % three-point shooting percentage on the year, forcing them to go 31-of-86 to start the year.
GET TO KNOW THE GRIFFINS
Chestnut Hill entered play on Wednesday night riding a two-game winning to start the year, welcoming Bloomsburg to Sorgenti Arena for the Huskies' season opener. The game was back and forth throughout, but it was a fourth-quarter run and defensive stand by Bloomsburg which allowed the Huskies to earn a 70-69 win over Chestnut Hill. Bri Hewlett led the Griffins in scoring with 15 points, while Siobhan Boylan added 14 of her own in the loss.
Emily Chmiel, who helped lead the Griffins past the Golden Rams a season ago, is the team's leading scorer once again this year, averaging 13.0 points per game, while Hewlett is second on the squad, averaging 8.3 per game. Hewlett has been one of the most versatile players on the floor for Chestnut Hill so far this season, ranking in the top three in most major categories, including rebounding (3.7/g-3
rd), assists (2.7/g-2
nd), and steals (1.0/g,-3
rd). Sophomore forward Emily Sekerak leads the team in rebounding, averaging 5.7 rebounds per game, while graduate student guard Abbey Spratt is the team's assist leader, averaging 4.7 helpers per game to start the year.
As a team, Chestnut Hill has averaged 75.0 points per game to open the year, shooting 45.7 % from the field and 38.7 % from the field while also winning the rebounding battle, averaging 39.0 rebounds per game while holding opponents to an average of 31.3 rebounds per contest. In addition to its extra possessions gained on the glass, the Griffins also own a +7.4 advantage in turnover margin, thanks in part to 8.0 steals per game average on the year.
UP NEXT
West Chester will have a brief break from action after this game, with no mid-week game on the schedule for next week, before returning to action on Saturday, November 26, vs Jefferson in what will be the team's long-awaited home opener.
