JOHNSTOWN, Pa.-Following an impressive 51-point win over Wilmington to close out non-league play on Sunday, the West Chester women's basketball team (5-3, 2-0) is ready to jump back into league play and put its unbeaten PSAC record to the test this weekend vs. Pitt-Johnstown (UPJ) and NR/11 Indiana (Pa.) (IUP) on Sunday afternoon and Monday night, respectively. West Chester will begin its trip out West on Sunday at 1 p.m. vs UPJ before visiting with IUP on Monday night at 5:30 in what will be the squad's final game before the Holiday Break.
Series History
West Chester and Pitt-Johnstown will meet for the 20th time in their respective histories on Sunday afternoon in the third crossover game of the year for both squads. While UPJ maintains a nine-win advantage in the all-time series (14-5 over WCU), West Chester has gotten the better of the Mountain Cats in recent years, winning each of the last three meetings, including a 62-54 home victory a year ago.
When WCU and UPJ met a season ago, it was the PSAC opener for both squads, and West Chester led for much of the game, leading for over 30 minutes of action; however, the lead never stretched to double digits as it remained a tightly contested game throughout. West Chester went on a 10-0 fourth-quarter run, which eventually gave the Golden Rams the separation they needed en route to the 62-54 victory to open league play.
Kyra Jefferson led WCU in scoring in this game, finishing with a career-high 21 points while also tying for the team lead in rebounding with eight in the victory.
Alexa Abbonizio finished with 11 points, while
Nancy Ruf made significant contributions as well, finishing with nine points, thanks to a 7-of-9 effort at the line and four clutch rebounds. West Chester ended the game shooting 41.7 % from the field while holding its guests to just 28.6 % shooting from the field in the PSAC victory.
West Chester and IUP will do battle for the 15
th time on Monday night, with the Crimson Hawks holding a 9-5 series lead, including a 6-2 advantage since the 2011-12 season when crossover games first started counting in the league standings.
West Chester gave IUP all it could handle last year, leading for much of the game, including a 15-point lead at the end of the first quarter and a five-point edge with 4:35 to play in regulation before the Crimson Hawks stormed back to escape Hollinger with a narrow 64-62 win over West Chester. West Chester nearly erased its late-game deficit after
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) drained a three on the Golden Rams second to last possession of the game, which cut the deficit to just one and
Kyra Jefferson (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom) had a jumper from the corner at the buzzer, but the shot was off as the Crimson Hawks escaped with a narrow two-point win. Johnson and
Alexa Abbonizio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) tied for the team lead in scoring with 15 points each, while Johnson also led the team in assists (7) and rebounds (7) in the setback.
Flock Talk
Following its first home loss of the year back on December 8th vs. Lincoln, West Chester bounced back in a big way with a 97-46 thrashing of Wilmington, the largest margin of victory in head coach
Kiera Wooden's tenure at the helm. West Chester saw all 14 players score in the victory, led by a career-high 25-point outing from
Emily McAteer. West Chester never trailed or really even struggled in this victory, jumping out to an early lead and cruising to the road win, improving to 5-3 on the year behind a stellar 56.3 % field-goal shooting effort.
West Chester has earned three PSAC East Player of the Week awards already this season, surpassing the combined total (2) of the previous two years.
Anna McTamney was the first to earn a weekly honor, capturing PSAC East Defensive Player of the Week recognition following the first crossover weekend of the year, while
Emily McAteer and
Leah Johnson swept the honors this week. McAteer earned Player of the Week honors, averaging a double-double over the two non-league games (23 PPG/10 RPG), while Johnson averaged 13.0 points per game, 5.0 rebounds (4.5 defensive rebounds), and 2.5 steals per game to help lead WCU defensively. This sweep was the first time WCU has swept the weekly honors since Madison Torresin and Zhane Snow did it during the 2018-19 season.
Junior guard
Leah Johnson is off to another strong start to the year, ranking second on the team in scoring, averaging 14.5 points per game, and leading the team in assists, averaging 7.5 per game. Johnson's 7.5 helpers per contest are the best in the PSAC and rank her second in all DII women's basketball. Johnson has been flirting with a triple-double throughout the season, finishing just one assist shy of this in the win over Gannon. If Johnson achieves a triple-double this season, she will become just the fourth Golden Ram to do so and the first since Gabby Troisi in the PSAC Tournament in 2019.
West Chester has played to a record of 23-33 vs. Western Division competition since the 2011-12 season when the crossover games first started counting toward Conference record. West Chester is already 2-0 in such matchups this season, dispatching Mercyhurst and Gannon earlier in December, which allowed WCU to surpass its win total in crossover games from a year ago, while one more win would match the number of crossover wins that WCU had recorded in the previous three seasons combined.
Scouting UPJ
Pitt-Johnstown enters play on a two-game losing streak after dropping games to East Stroudsburg and #6/16 Glenville State the last two times out. In crossover action against East Stroudsburg and Bloomsburg (whom the Mountain Cats defeated by a 54-50 final), Pitt-Johnstown has averaged just 46.5 points per game after being held to 39 by ESU. On Tuesday night vs. Glenville State, Pitt-Johnstown scored the most points it has mustered all month with a 62-point effort, but the Pioneers were too much as they pulled away for a 79-62 win. It does bear noting that 79 points is one of the lowest offensive outputs of the year for Glenville State and one of just four times this season (three times after Tuesday night-held to 73 by Lock Haven) that the defending National Champions have been held under 80 points and one of six times in 10 games that they have been held under 100 points.
Defense has been the calling card for Pitt-Johnstown this year, averaging just 64.6 points per game; however, the Mountain Cats have done well to limit opponents to just 70.5 points per game, including a 29.4 % three-point shooting effort on the season. UPJ has also struggled from deep, shooting 26.7 % from three and 39.5 % from the field through the first eight games of the 2022-23 season.
Ashley Norling is the go-to player for the Mountain Cats this year, averaging a team-best 14.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while ranking second on the team in assists (2.6/g) and steals (1.5/g). Peyton Alazus, who led the way for Pitt-Johnstown in the meeting last December with 17 points, is second on the team in scoring, averaging 12.6 points per game, while also ranking second on the squad in rebounding, averaging 4.8 rebounds per contest.
Scouting IUP
Under new leadership for the first time in nine seasons after the retirement of longtime head coach Tom McConnell, who had guided the Crimson Hawks to new heights during his time at the helm, the IUP women's basketball team (7-0, 2-0) remains dangerous under the tutelage of new head coach Craig Carey.
The Crimson Hawks, who are ranked 11
th in the D2SIDA media poll and currently not ranked in the coaches poll, have enjoyed another strong start to the year, winning each of their first seven games, including PSAC wins over Mansfield (82-72) and Bloomsburg (72-64). While an argument could be made that the 7-0 start may be somewhat inflated, as it does include a 102-20 thumping of Division III Rosemont earlier in the year, IUP looks as dangerous as ever, ranking third in the league in scoring, averaging 78.3 points per game while holding opponents to an average of 53.7 per game. These averages will set West Chester, who ranks 13
th in the Nation in scoring average and IUP, up for a classic clash of offense vs. defense on Monday night inside the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex (KCAC) as WCU is second in the PSAC in scoring, averaging 79.8 points per game. IUP has shot an impressive 47.6 % from the field this season and 30.1 % from beyond the arc while holding its opponents to just 33.3 % shooting from the field and 29.9 % from three-point territory. Advantages in the rebounding (+9.2) and turnover (+3.2) battles this year have both been critical for IUP throughout the season, allowing the Crimson Hawks to get extra possessions and play the up-tempo style, which was predicted with the arrival of coach Craig Carey similar to the type of play seen from Glenville State and West Virginia State on opening weekend.
Kierra Baughman is one of four players averaging in double figures already this season for IUP, leading the way with 15.9 points per game, while Maria Cerro is second on the team, averaging 13.9 per game. Cerro has the top field-goal percentage on the team, shooting the ball at a 53.5 % clip on the year. Teirra Preston, who is fourth on the team in scoring, averaging just north of 10 points per game, is the team's leading rebounder, averaging 9.9 rebounds per game, while Cerro takes the lead as a facilitator, averaging a team-best 5.0 assists per game.
Up Next:
After playing IUP tomorrow night beginning at 5:30, West Chester will have another lengthy layoff as the Golden Rams will not return to action until December 30
th vs Seton Hill beginning at 3:30 in Hollinger.
