LOCK HAVEN, Pa.- In need of a victory to bolster its playoff chances, the West Chester women's basketball team (7-18, 5-14) took to the road on Saturday afternoon to face Lock Haven (12-12, 9-11). West Chester held an early first-quarter lead but a strong second quarter by Lock Haven allowed the host Bald Eagles to earn a 85-59 victory over the visiting Golden Rams.
West Chester led by as many as five points early in the first quarter and carried a slim lead into the second quarter of action but a big second-quarter run and corresponding cold spell from the field by West Chester, which saw the Purple and Gold held without a field goal for much of the quarter, allowed the Bald Eagles to erase the early deficit and secure a 20-point lead at the halftime break, which they would never relinquish.
In the first quarter, West Chester got out to an early lead, holding a 14-9 advantage over Lock Haven with 1:54 to play in the opening period. Over the final few minutes of basketball, Lock Haven outscored West Chester 6-2 to close the period as the Golden Rams held a narrow 16-15 lead heading into the second.
In the second quarter, Lock Haven opened the proceedings with a 23-0 run over the first 8:17 to take a commanding 38-16 lead. With 1:24 to play in the second,
Kyra Jefferson (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom) scored the Golden Rams first points of the period on a jumper, making the score 38-18 in favor of Lock Haven. Lock Haven closed out the first half with a 20-point (40-20) advantage.
In the third quarter, Lock Haven continued to extend its lead, outscoring West Chester 23-14 in this period to carry a 63-34 lead into the fourth.
West Chester opened the fourth quarter scoring with a step-back jumper by
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) but the deficit was too much to overcome as Lock Haven rolled to a 85-59 victory over the Golden Rams.
After leading West Chester in scoring in the first half with seven points, Jefferson ended with nine points while Johnson, who has held scoreless in the first half, turned in a strong second-half effort, which saw her score 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting to go along with her six rebounds, four assists, and three steals in the setback. In her return to Lock Haven, former Lock Haven guard
Bink Redman (York, Pa./William Penn) registered team highs in rebounding (10) and assists (5) to go along with four points in the setback.
For Lock Haven, Ahnera Parker who played the hero in the Bald Eagles victory over Shepherd on Wednesday evening led the way once again, scoring 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting while Brooke Lawyer chipped in 19 points of her own in the victory.
As a team, West Chester shot 29.3 % from the field and 23.8 % from deep while also shooting 75.0 % from the line while Lock Haven shot an impressive 55.1 % from the field, 62.5 % from three, and 75.0 % from the line in what was a substantial improvement from its shooting in the first meeting against the Golden Rams.
Lock Haven ended the contest with a narrow 47-38 edge in the rebounding battle, led by nine rebounds from Jaynelle Robinson, which also helped the Bald Eagles end the game with a 12-9 lead in second-chance points and a 34-22 lead in points in the paint.
West Chester will be back in action on Wednesday evening at Millersville with that contest set to begin at 5:30 p.m.
