WEST CHESTER, PA— The West Chester women's basketball team won its fourth straight PSAC contest on Monday, pulling away from the Shepherd Rams in the second half en route to a 94-47 win over the Rams. West Chester improved to 11-7 overall and to 8-4 in the PSAC while Shepherd fell to 0-17 overall and 0-12 in PSAC league play.
Showing its impressive depth, West Chester had five players score in double figures and a total of 11 players score in the victory led by a 20-point effort from
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua) and another 17 points from
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame).
Shepherd played well in the early going and shot the ball well throughout the first quarter, jumping out to an early 7-0 lead before eventually holding a 16-11 lead with under five minutes to play in the first. West Chester tied the score at 16-16 on a layup by Johnson and then took its first lead on a 3-pointer by sharpshooter
Alexa Abbonizio (Springfield, PA/Springfield) at 21-18.
Shepherd hit its fifth 3-pointer of the first quarter to tie the game again at 21-21 before late baskets by
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, PA/Plymouth Whitemarsh) and Emily McAteer (Thornton, PA/Garnet Valley) made it 25-21 in favor of the Golden Rams heading into the second. The high-scoring first quarter ended with Shepherd shooting 57.1% from the field, including 5-for-8 from 3-point distance for 62.5%. West Chester shot 52.6% from the field (10-of-19) and 42.9% (3 of 7) from distance.
In the second period, West Chester turned up the heat defensively and it paid off with steals and fast break buckets.
Rachel Conran (Springfield, PA/Springfield) and Kozicki combined to send the Golden Rams to a 10 point lead at 34-24 at the seven-minute mark of the second quarter before Abbonizio hit another three-pointer and then Kozicki scored five straight points for WCU to improve the lead to 42-26. Conran hit a buzzer-beater shot at the end of the half to bump the advantage to 48-31 at the halftime break. Kozicki had 13 points and 7 rebounds to lead West Chester while Johnson had 9 points, 6 assists and 3 steals at halftime. Peyton Grant, Sydney Bolles, and Madison Mertz each had 6 points for Shepherd at the break. West Chester pushed the pace in the second quarter with its tighter defense and had a 23-10 points advantage in the period.
The third quarter was more high-scoring for West Chester with the Golden Rams racing past the visitors, 31-7, behind the stellar play of Johnson and Kozicki. By the end of the third quarter, West Chester led 79-38 and the point guard play of Johnson was a key difference-maker. Kozicki led all scorers with 20 points by the end of the third period. Johnson had 17 points and Abbonizio rang up 10 points on 4 of 7 shooting.
West Chester Coach
Kiera Wooden cleared her bench in the fourth quarter and the starters got a well-deserved rest.
Briana Seltzer (Reading, PA/Reading) was a standout for the Golden Rams late in the game and she finished with 4 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists.
For the game, West Chester outrebounded the Rams, 48-26, and had 14 steals to just one for the visiting Rams. The passing was crisp with 29 assists for WCU against just four turnovers in the game. The Golden Rams shot 51.4% in the contest (38-of-74) and 40% from 3-point territory (10-of-25). After its fast start, Shepherd shot just 29.4% for the game and dropped to 30% from distance (6 of 20). Shepherd made just one 3-pointer after the hot first quarter (5 of 8), as the Golden Rams displayed a much tougher defense including pressure in the backcourt.
West Chester's plus-22 lead in the glass translated into an 18-0 advantage in second-chance points while the Golden Rams also ended the contest with a 23-4 lead in points off turnovers and a 40-10 advantage in points in the paint. The West Chester bench, which was led by a 10-point effort from Abbonizio and a season-high eight points from Conran.
West Chester had two players almost tally double-doubles in the game. Kozicki ended up with 20 points and 9 rebounds, while Johnson had 17 points and 9 assists in the victory. McAteer also scored 12 points in the victory on 5-of-12 shooting as did McTamney, who was 5-of-8 from the field in the win as well.
For Shepherd, Jordan Carr led the team in scoring with eight rebounds and three assists while Madison Mertz led the team in rebounding with five boards to go along with six points in the setback. This marked the first time all season in which West Chester kept its opponent from having a single-player finish the game in double figures as the Golden Rams cruised to one of its most lopsided victories of the season, second only to its 97-46 win over Wilmington to conclude non-league play.
Next Up: The Golden Rams travel to Millersville this Wednesday for a 5:30 game and then are back at home on Saturday for a 2:00 tip-off vs. Bloomsburg in another PSAC contest.
