WEST CHESTER, PA— The West Chester women's basketball team (3-2, 1-0) won its PSAC season opener on Friday evening at Hollinger Fieldhouse, moving past Mercyhurst (2-3, 0-1) by a 79-67 final.
Leading the way for West Chester was
Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) as she notched a double-double with 22 points with 12 rebounds. She also had 3 steals and was a perfect 7-7 from the foul line.
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) had a big game with 16 points, all in the second half.
Leah Johnson (Columbus, NJ/Notre Dame) also contributed a double-double for the Golden Rams, with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Playing well at the point guard position, Johnson had six assists with just two turnovers against the pressing Mercyhurst defense.
Johnson and McAteer's double-doubles marks the second time this season in which West Chester has had two players record double-doubles in the same game, marking the first time since the 2017-18 season that West Chester turned this trick twice in the same season.
Both teams came into the game with 2-2 records, with high-powered offenses. The Mercyhurst Lakers were averaging almost 87 points per contest while West Chester was averaging almost 81. With the win, West Chester now has a three-game winning streak. The Lakers meanwhile fell to 2-3, halting a two-game winning streak.
The Golden Rams jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the early minutes of the first quarter, with McAteer leading the way. The lead grew to 13-4 on a 3-pointer by McAteer at the 5 minute mark but the Lakers soon tied it up at 13-13 on a lay-up by Ava Waid late in the quarter. The first period ended deadlocked at 15-15. West Chester played tight defense in the opening quarter, finishing with five steals, but the Golden Rams also committed six turnovers, which aided the Laker comeback.
West Chester's McAteer starred in the second quarter and led the Golden Rams to a 39-30 halftime lead. With 16 points and 7 rebounds, McAteer helped push the advantage to six points and then Johnson hit a 3-pointer from the left wing and a 15 foot jumper to make the score 37-28. With time running out in the half, Johnson hit a buzzer-beating bank shot to make it 39-30 at the break.
At the half, the Golden Rams had outrebounded the Lakers by 23-11 and shot 11-11 from the free throw line. McTamney was scoreless (0 for 5) at that point but that would change significantly in the second half. West Chester was just 2-of-8 on 3-pointers in the half, but shot 13-for-32 overall.
The third quarter was the McTamney Show as she scored 7 straight points for the Golden Rams to push the lead to 48-32 on a foul line jumper. After a media timeout, McTamney drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing to take the advantage to 51-34. West Chester looked to be in control of the game but then McAteer drew her third foul and headed for the bench soon after.
West Chester's improved depth was on full display at that point as
Michelle Kozicki (WIlmington, DE/Padua Academy) went on a scoring spree of her own. The sophomore guard score following an offensive rebound and then added another basket off a strong drive to the hoop to make it a 57-36 game in favor of the Golden Rams. Kozicki finished the game with 14 points and seven rebounds.
The Golden Rams' biggest margin was 22 points at 67-45 on a McTamney jumper but Mercyhurst showed its competitive spirit with a full-court pressing defense and cut the gap to 69-56 midway through the fourth quarter.
An offensive rebound basket by McTamney was key with less than 5 minutes left in the game, increasing the lead to 73-58. Strong point guard play by Johnson in the final minutes helped the Golden Rams maintain the lead and improve to 3-2 on the season.
West Chester ended the contest with a 48-24 rebounding advantage and shot 95% from the foul line, making 19 of 20 free throws. West Chester also ended the game shooting 43.8 % (28-of-64) from the field and 26.7 % (4-of-15) from deep while holding its guests to 44.8 % (26-of-58) shooting from the field and a 5-for-25 (20.0 %) effort from deep.
Waid led Mercyhurst in scoring with 11 points as one of three Lakers in double figures as Jayde Boyd and Danielle Grim finished with 10 points each.
West Chester's dominant performance on the glass led to a 23-4 lead in second-chance points and a 40-36 edge in points in the paint. Mercyhurst did end the game with a plus-five advantage in turnovers and a corresponding 13-12 lead in points off turnovers but it was not enough to avoid the PSAC opening loss against the streaking Golden Rams.
Next up for West Chester is a home game on Saturday against Gannon, who suffered its first loss of the year tonight in a 55-54 setback at Kutztown. That contest is set to get underway inside Hollinger at 5:30 p.m.
