SHIPPENSBURG, Pa.- The West Chester women's basketball team (7-13, 5-9 PSAC) returns to action on Wednesday evening vs Shippensburg (13-9, 9-7 PSAC) following an exciting second-half comeback to defeat Mansfield at home on Monday evening.
Series Information
West Chester and Shippensburg have met 60 times dating back to the 1982-83 season, while Shippensburg won each of the first three games in the all-time series against the Golden Rams, West Chester holds a narrow 32-28 lead in the all-time series thanks in large part to an eight-game winning streak from 2009-2012. In recent times, the series has been fairly even as the Raiders and Golden Rams have split the last two season series with each team picking up a home victory in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.
The last time West Chester ventured to Heiges Field House for the final meeting of the 2019-20 season series against the Raiders, Shippensburg caught fire from deep, connecting on 10 three pointers for a three-point shooting percentage of 62.5 % while holding West Chester to just 13.3 % from deep in the victory. Ariel Jones led all scorers with 34 points while former Golden Ram turned Raider
Destiny Jefferson had 22 points with seven made field goals, three of which came from outside the arc. Sasha Marvel led West Chester in scoring in this game as one of two Golden Rams in double figures with 15 points while
Leah Johnson is the leading returning scorer from the matchup, having scored eight points on 4-of-8 shooting as she continued her stellar rookie season. As a team, West Chester shot 40.2 % from the field but just 50.0 % from the line while Shippensburg shot 48.2 % from the field overall and 76.0 % from the stripe to earn the victory and split the season series.
Flock Talk
Looking to halt a three-game losing streak, the West Chester women's basketball team returned to action on Monday evening at home against the same team who had sparked the streak in Mansfield. West Chester took an early lead in the first quarter but saw this lead slip away as quickly as it came, trailing by as many as 20 points in the first half. Following a similar script to the first meeting of the year between the two Eastern Division foes, the second half was all West Chester as the Golden Rams erased their deficit, outscoring Mansfield 28-14 in the third and 23-14 in the fourth to complete the comeback and win by a final of 74-73.
Leah Johnson had career-night, finishing with a career-high 31 points on 10-of-20 shooting (5-of-8) from deep while narrowly missing a double-double finishing with nine rebounds, six steals, and three assists in the comeback victory.
Justyn Roberts, who nearly helped bring West Chester all the way back in the first meeting of the year, also had a big night, finishing with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting. West Chester shot 41.3 % from the field and 36.8 % from three-point territory while also shooting 88.2 % from the charity stripe in the victory.
Taking an early lead has been key for the Golden Rams this season as five of the Golden Rams seven wins on the year have come after the Golden Rams have held a halftime lead. The team erased a halftime deficit for just the second time this season with a comeback win over Mansfield on Monday evening after trailing by as many as 20 points late in the first half. The Golden Ram bench has been another key to success throughout the year as five of the team's seven victories have come when the bench has outscored the opposing bench. Additionally, West Chester's bench has outscored its opponents 149-96 over the last six games.
Scouting Shippensburg
Shippensburg took to the road on Monday evening, visiting Millersville in search of its second win in a row. The first three quarters of the game were tightly contested as Shippensburg held a slim lead after each period but still only led by eight points entering the fourth quarter. In the fourth, Shippensburg came to life, outscoring Millersville 27-17 to pull away and secure a 75-57 road victory over the Marauders. As she has done for much of the season,
Destiny Jefferson led the Raiders in scoring with 22 points and six rebounds as one of three Raiders in double figures. Taja Colbert and Lauren Pettis also finished in double figures as Colbert poured in 16 while Pettis had 15 points and 13 rebounds to register a double-double in the victory. As a team, Shippensburg shot 45.5 % from the field and 46.7 % from beyond the arc while also shooting 72.0 % from the line to earn the victory over upset-minded Millersville.
West Chester will face a familiar foe on Wednesday evening as Shippensburg's leading scorer-
Destiny Jefferson was a Golden Ram for the first two years of her college basketball career. During her time as a Golden Ram, Jefferson averaged 11.1 points per game and 41.2 % field-goal percentage over her two years, thanks in large part to a stellar sophomore season, which saw her score nearly 500 points, averaging 16.5 points per game over that season. This season, Jefferson has stayed on track, averaging 16.7 points per game and 3.4 assists per contest to lead Shippensburg in each of these categories throughout the 2021-22 season.
As a team, Shippensburg enters play with a record of 13-9 having won each of its last two contest, with the victory over Millersville on Monday evening. As a team, the Raiders are averaging 65.8 points per game while surrendering an average of 63.6 points per game with a team field-goal percentage of 41.6 % compared to just 39.3 % from its opponents. The rebounding battle has been particularly important to the Raiders success this season, as Shippensburg enters play with a +5.8 (40.1-to-34.3) edge in this category.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action at home on Saturday afternoon vs Bloomsburg beginning at 1 p.m. in the second game of a doubleheader against the Huskies on what will also be Pack the House day inside Hollinger Field House.
