ERIE, Pa.- After finishing non-league play with a 74-56 victory over Lincoln back on December 5, the No. 11/14 West Chester University women's basketball team (7-1, 2-0) returns to action on Monday and Tuesday afternoon against Mercyhurst (6-2, 2-0) and No. 5/7 Gannon (10-1, 2-0) in its final two road games before the Holiday Break. This roadtrip will see West Chester venture away from Hollinger for the second time this season and out of the Greater Philadelphia Area for the first time in 2023-24, following a short trip to Jefferson at the end of November. The Golden Rams game against Mercyhurst will tip at 1 p.m. on Monday afternoon while their contest against Gannon is set for a 5:30 p.m. start.
SERIES INFORMATION
West Chester renews acquaintances with a pair of teams that it faced in Hollinger a year ago in the Lakers and Golden Knights. The Golden Rams swept this weekend a year ago, improving to 6-4 all-time against Mercyhurst and 3-6 all-time against Gannon. West Chester has won two of the last three against Mercyhurst, although the team has not won in Erie since December of the 2014-15 season. Against Gannon, West Chester has split the last four meetings and has not won in Erie since the first matchup between the two foes in January of the 2011 season.
In Hollinger a year ago,
Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) led the way against Mercyhurst, finishing with 22 points and 12 rebounds in a 79-67 victory over the Lakers, while
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) scored 19 points to lead four Golden Rams in double figures in a 72-66 win over the Golden Knights.
FLOCK TALK
West Chester returns to league action on Monday night in its first game in almost two weeks after dispatching Lincoln in its non-league finale on Tuesday, December 5, by a 74-56 final. West Chester surged to an early lead, leading 44-20 at the halftime break, and never relinquished this lead in the 18-point victory. This game, which saw West Chester hold its foes under 60 points for the third game in a row and the sixth time this season, was made even more impressive by the fact that it was the Golden Rams smallest margin of victory since its 77-69 win over Elizabeth City State to open the season.
Emily McAteer led all scorers with 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field, including a three to open the game, while also corralling nine rebounds, narrowly missing a double-double in just 25 minutes of action. McAteer was one of three Golden Rams in double figures as the team shot 45.5 % (25-of-55) from the field, including a 23.5 % (4-of-17) effort from deep to go along with a 20-of-28 performance at the line.
McAteer's 17-point performance against Lincoln was just the latest in a string of solid play by the senior forward as she earned PSAC East Athlete of the Week honors before that game in recognition of a four-game stretch (vs Chestnut Hill at Jefferson, vs Rock and vs Edinboro) that saw her average 15.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, including a 13-point/13-rebound performance against the Fighting Scots. Johnson has been perhaps the most consistent threat for the Golden Rams this year, ranking just ahead of McAteer on the scoring chart, averaging 14.4 points compared to 14.3 points per game, while also serving as the lone player to score in double figures in every game this season. In addition to her scoring, Johnson ranks first on the team and second in the league in assists per game, averaging 5.4 per game, which is 19th best in Division II. This week is also a Homecoming of sorts for grad transfer
Jayde Boyd (Pittsburgh, Pa./Oakland Catholic) as the Pittsburgh native and former Mercyhurst All-Conference guard returns to the Gem City for a pair of big games against her old team and old crosstown rival.
As a team, West Chester has made a strong impact in the paint, outscoring opponents inside the painted area in every game this season, including a 44-18 advantage in the season opener against Elizabeth City State University. For the year, West Chester holds a 294-150 lead in points in the paint, averaging 36.7 points per game inside this season. West Chester has also done an excellent job of taking care of the basketball, ranking first in the PSAC and seventh in DII in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.25 on the season while also leading the league and ranking 21
st in DII in assists per game, averaging 17.1 through eight games. As deep and impressive as the Golden Rams offense has been, the team's defense has been equally as remarkable, limiting opponents to 54.3 points per game, which is third best in the PSAC, trailing only the team's next two opponents in Mercyhurst and Gannon. West Chester has allowed an opponent to eclipse the 60-point threshold just twice this season, with the first occurrence coming in a 77-69 victory over Elizabeth City State University in the season opener and the most recent occurrence being the 75-63 loss to Jefferson to end November. The Golden Rams three-point defense has played a leading role in this effort, holding their foes to just 19.0 % shooting from deep, which is second-best in Division II women's basketball.
SCOUTING MERCYHURST
After dropping its first two games of the season to West Liberty and Wheeling, Mercyhurst has bounced back nicely, winning each of its last six, including a pair of wins over PSAC East foes East Stroudsburg and Kutztown during the first crossover weekend of the season. Averaging 65.5 points per game on 42.0 % shooting from the field, the defense has been the calling card of this Mercyhurst team, holding opponents to an average of just 53.9 points per game, thanks in part to a +1.8 (14.9-13.1) lead in the turnover battle and a 34.9-33.6 lead in rebounding.
Mercyhurst enters off a 55-42 win over Tiffin, which saw the Lakers erase an early deficit and hold off their guests for a 55-42 victory back on December 7. Bailey Kuhns led the team in scoring in this victory, finishing with 23 points, while Lauren Klare, who led the team in assists with four, added 10 points of her own. Danielle Grim nearly notched a double-double in the victory, pulling down 13 defensive rebounds, but she mustered only eight points offensively. As a team, Mercyhurst shot just below its season average from the field, shooting 39.6 % (21-of-53) from the field and 31.6 % (6-of-19) from deep while also ending the game with a 34-32 edge in rebounding to improve to 6-2 on the year.
SCOUTING GANNON
When the Golden Rams face the Golden Knights of Gannon on Tuesday night, it will be the team's third game of the year vs a ranked opponent, following matchups against ECSU in the season opener and Jefferson later in November. No. 5/7 Gannon will likely pose the stiffest test West Chester has faced this season as the Golden Knights enter play with a record of 10-1 and a mark of 2-0 in league play, winners of each of their last seven. Gannon enters play with an impressive resume, knocking off three perennial powers to open the season in Texas A&M Kingsville, Angelo State, and Tampa on the first weekend of the season in Montana at the D2CCA Tip-Off Tournament. Since returning home, Gannon suffered its lone loss of the year to Glenville State on November 10 but has since rattled off seven in a row, including a pair of convincing wins over Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg, which saw the Golden Knights keep their hosts under 40 points.
Most recently, Gannon logged a 66-45 victory over Findlay on December 6, steadily extending its lead throughout the evening in the victory. Samantha Pirkoso led the Golden Knights in scoring with 21 points and 10 rebounds in this victory, while Bri Claxon added 19 of her own on 6-of-11 shooting off the bench in the win. As a team, Gannon shot 44.8 % (26-of-58) from the field and 22.6 % (7-of-31) from three-point territory while also connecting on 7-of-8 (87.5 %) from the line in the victory. The Golden Knights also ended the game with a 41-30 lead in rebounding, including a 12-10 lead in offensive rebounds, which translated into a 12-5 lead in second-chance points.
As a team, Gannon enters play, averaging 72.5 points per game on 46.0 % shooting from the field and 32.4 % shooting from beyond the arc while also shooting 78.2 % from the line. Through 11 games, Gannon enters play with a 36.4-to-32.0 (+4.4) lead in rebounding and a +6.1 (22.6-16.5) in the turnover battle. Individually, Pirkoso and Claxon have been the two top scoring threats for Gannon this year, averaging 17.5 and 10.8 points per game, respectively, while Pirkoso also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 7.2 rebounds per game. The Golden Rams did a decent job of limiting the now red-shirt senior forward a year ago, holding her to 14 points and 10 rebounds, which proved enough to allow WCU to capture the 72-66 victory.
Up Next:
West Chester will return to the court at 1 p.m. on Monday against Mercyhurst before facing off against Gannon on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. After its matchup against Gannon, West Chester will have another 10-day layoff as the team does not return to action again until December 30 against Clarion in Hollinger beginning at 1 p.m. The matchup against Clarion on December 30 will be the Golden Rams first home game in 25 days and will be its last home game until Wednesday, January 10, against Shepherd.
