WEST CHESTER, Pa.- As the fight for a PSAC Tournament spot continues, the West Chester women's basketball team (7-16, 5-12) will host East leading Kutztown (21-5, 14-3) on Wednesday evening as the Golden Rams look to halt a three-game losing streak.
FAN INFORMATION
As a reminder, all spectators, regardless of vaccination status, are required to wear a mask when attending any indoor athletic contests inside Hollinger Field house, the Sturzebecker Health Science Center, or the Graham Natatorium. 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 Kutztown are no strangers to one another, having met 81 times dating back to the 1983 campaign. West Chester holds a slim 46-35 lead in the all-time series against its closest rivals, however, Kutztown has managed to win each of the last three meetings against West Chester including a narrow 64-53 decision inside Keystone Arena on January 5th in what was the Golden Rams first game of the New Year and final game for two weeks.
In West Chester's last meeting with Kutztown, on the road at the Golden Bears earlier this season, West Chester fell behind early, trailing 9-2 in the early stages of the contest. The Golden Rams worked throughout the evening to battle back and trimmed the deficit to as few as five points with just under two minutes to play, but Kutztown was able to hold on and outscore the Golden Rams 6-0 down the stretch to escape with the 64-53 victory.
Alexa Abbonizio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) set a new season and career-high for scoring in the setback, scoring a team-high 19 points, while Johnson added 12 of her own along with 15 rebounds for her team-leading fourth double-double of the year. Johnson's 15 rebounds nearly helped the Golden Rams win the rebounding battle, but the Golden Bears ended the day with 43 to the Rams 41 in the setback. As a team, West Chester shot just 29.5 % (18-of-61) from the field and 35.0 % (7-of-20) from three-point range while also going 10-for-14 (71.4 %) from the stripe in the setback.
FLOCK TALK
In a story that has become all too familiar for the Golden Rams this season, West Chester found itself down early, trailing 16-12 after the first and trailing by as many as 18 just seconds into the third quarter. West Chester answered with an impressive run, including a 10-0 run midway through the third, which eventually allowed the Golden Rams to close to within three points of Shippensburg late in the fourth but a 4-0 run by the Raiders over the final minute of regulation allowed the guests to escape Hollinger with a narrow 71-64 victory.
Alexa Abbonizio led all scorers with a career-high 22 points while
Leah Johnson registered her eighth double-double of the year with 19 points and 12 rebounds in the narrow setback.
Abbonizio and Johnson have been a difficult duo to contain this year as Johnson has eight double-doubles on the season, which ranks seventh in the league and third in the PSAC East with 20 double-digit scoring efforts on the year while Abbonizio has 13 such efforts to her credit along with her first career 20-point effort on Monday night vs Shippensburg. Johnson currently ranks fifth in the PSAC East in scoring, averaging 16.9 points per game while also ranking third in the league in assists (4.7/G) and first in steals (3.1/G). Johnson also currently resides in ninth in the league in rebounding, averaging 7.9 rebounds per contest. Entering the final week and a half of the season, Johnson is the only player in the PSAC to rank in the top-10 in the league in points, rebounding, assists, and steals.
SCOUTING KUTZTOWN
Kutztown's impressive 2021-22 season continued on Monday evening as the Golden Bears exacted revenge over Millersville for a road loss at the Marauders with a 65-46 home victory for its 21st win of the season. Kutztown trailed only briefly in this game before taking a 20-12 lead into the second quarter and rolling to the 21-point victory over Millersville. Abby Hearn led Kutztown in scoring with 16 points while Rylee Derr contributed in her usual way, scoring 11 points and adding seven rebounds to help lead the Golden Bears past the Marauders.
Derr, has been the leader for Kutztown throughout her lengthy career as a Golden Bear has continued this year as she leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.9 points per game while also ranking second on the squad in rebounding, averaging 6.7 rebounds per contest.
As a team, Kutztown ranks eighth in the league in scoring, averaging a manageable 63.6 points per game, however, this scoring output is only manageable when teams are able to match the Golden Bears scoring. This has been no small ask for opposing teams this season as Kutztown ranks second in the league and first in the East in points allowed, surrendering an average of just 54.1 points per game, holding opponents to just 32.3 % shooting from the field, which is the best in the PSAC.
UP NEXT
West Chester will take to the road for its next two games beginning with a visit to Lock Haven on Saturday afternoon with opening tip set for 1 p.m. against the Bald Eagles.
