WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Off to a 2-0 start for the time since the 2017-18 season, the West Chester University women's basketball team (2-0) will look to accomplish something it has not done since head coach
Kiera Wooden's first season at the helm in 2014-15, start the year a perfect 3-0. Wilmington (0-3) will be the Golden Rams next challenger, visiting Hollinger Field House on Saturday afternoon beginning at 1 p.m.
SERIES INFORMATION
West Chester has an excellent chance of improving to 3-0 on Saturday afternoon as the Golden Rams host a winless Wilmington squad, whom the hosts have defeated in the first 11 meetings between the two non-league foes. The two teams met in Wilmington a year ago, and West Chester emerged victorious, winning by a 97-46 final, led by a 25-point effort from
Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) as one of three Golden Rams in double figures in the victory.
FLOCK TALK
Should West Chester open the year a perfect 3-0 on Saturday, the Golden Rams will be off to the same start they were in the 2014-15 season, which saw the group open the year 8-0 before falling in a Mid-December crossover matchup at Gannon, eventually reaching the PSAC Championship Game and NCAA Tournament at the conclusion of Wooden's first season.
West Chester has received respect in the polls early in 2023-24, most recently in the D2CSC (Media) Poll, which ranked the Golden Rams eighth earlier this week. The team's eighth-place ranking is tied for the second highest in program history, trailing only a seventh-place ranking in mid-December of that magical 2014-15 season.
West Chester has been as can be in Hollinger in the last two seasons, entering Saturday afternoon with a mark of 14-2 in home games, currently riding a nine-game winning streak since its last loss at home against Shippensburg on January 11 of last year.
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del/Padua) led the Golden Rams in the season-opening victory over fellow 2023 NCAA Tournament participant, Elizabeth City State, finishing with 20 points and 14 rebounds, but it was
Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley), who took center stage on Sunday against Livingstone, finishing with 21 points and 10 rebounds in a wire-to-wire win for the Golden Rams. After a nail-biting victory over ECSU to open the season, Sunday afternoon against Livingstone was never really close as the Golden Rams raced out to an 8-0 lead, eventually leading by as many as 31 early in the fourth quarter, en route to an 85-56 drubbing of the Bluebears.
The guard trio of
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame), Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh), and Jayde Boyd (Pittsburgh, Pa./Oakland Catholic) have led the way for West Chester offensively to open the year as all three have scored in double figures in each of the first two games of the season. Johnson leads the bunch, averaging 16.0 points per game, while McTamney and Boyd average 14 and 11, respectively.
WHAT ABOUT WILMINGTON
For its part, Wilmington enters Wednesday with a mark of 0-3 on the year after falling to Bowie State on Wednesday night by a 65-40 final on Wednesday night in its third home game to open the season. On Wednesday night, Wilmington was tied with Bowie State at 14-14 after the first quarter but fell upon hard times in the second, mustering just three points on 1-of-10 shooting as the visiting Bulldogs carried a 33-17 lead into the halftime break. In the second half, Wilmington attempted to mount a comeback but could not fight its way all the way back into the game, falling by a 65-40 final, despite a pair of 10-point performances by Amber Washington and Mia Fuller. Daja Claiborne nearly recorded a double-double on Wednesday, finishing with 12 rebounds and nine points on 4-of-10 shooting from the field and a 1-of-2 effort at the line. The Wildcats opened the year against New Haven on Friday, November 10, falling to the Chargers by an 81-21 final before squaring off against the University of the District of Columbia by a 72-46 final on Saturday evening.
Wilmington enters play on Saturday afternoon, averaging 35.7 points per game, shooting just 24.1 % from the field and 14.9 % from beyond the arc, led by a 6.7 point per game scoring average by Fuller and Washington. Fuller, who leads the team in three-point shooting, shooting 25.0 % on the year, also leads the squad in assists, averaging 2.7 helpers per contest. For her part, Washington ranks among the team leaders in rebounding, averaging 5.3 boards per game, which is second on the team, trailing only Daja Claiborne, who leads the group, averaging 5.7 rebounds per contest, including 5.0 defensive rebounds per game.
UP NEXT
West Chester will conclude its longest homestand of the season on Monday night against Chestnut Hill, beginning at 5:30 p.m., before heading into Philadelphia after Thanksgiving to take on Jefferson on Sunday, November 26, beginning at 1 p.m. This trip away from Hollinger will last only one day as the Golden Rams return home for a three-game homestand in early December, starting crossover play on the 1st and 2nd against Slippery Rock and Edinboro before facing Lincoln on Tuesday, December 5th, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
