SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.V.- Looking for its first season sweep of Shepherd (1-23, 1-18) since the Rams joined the PSAC in 2019-20, the West Chester women's basketball team (18-7, 15-4) returned to action on Wednesday night in West Virginia, cruising to a 68-42 victory over the Rams.
West Chester had three players score in double figures, led by
Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley), who finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, while
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) added 11 to go along with 12 points from
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh).
The Golden Rams trailed only briefly in the victory, finding itself behind early in the first after the Rams made the first field goal of the game before answering with a 13-2 run and never looking back, methodically extending their lead throughout the remainder of the contest. West Chester eventually stretched its lead to as many as 26 in the closing seconds of regulation after
Alexa Abbonizio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) drilled a three off an assist from
Rachel Conran (Springfield, Pa./Springfield), ending her night with three points on 1-of-2 shooting.
As a team, West Chester shot 43.3 % (26-of-60) from the field while shooting an even 50.0 % (7-of-14) from beyond the arc, led by to made threes each from McAteer and Warley. West Chester also shot 69.2 % (9-of-13) from the line while holding Shepherd to just 34.1 % (15-of-44) from the field and 21.1 % (4-of-19) from beyond the arc.
Peyton Grant led Shepherd in scoring in the setback, finishing with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field as the only Ram in double figures in the setback.
Shepherd scored the first points of the game on a three by Cara Minor, which would prove to be the Rams only lead of the game as West Chester countered quickly with a 13-2 run led by four points from
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) making short work of the early deficit and holding a 13-5 lead with under five minutes to play in the first. At the end of the first, West Chester held a 22-12 lead behind a seven-point opening quarter from McAteer.
Early in the second quarter, Shepherd pulled back within five, opening the frame on a 7-2 run to cut the West Chester lead to 24-19, prompting a Golden Ram timeout with 6:34 to play in the first half. After a two-minute scoreless drought by both sides, West Chester broke the ice with back-to-back made threes by
Morgan Warley (West Chester, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) and Johnson, stretching the lead back to 30-19 with under four minutes to play in the first half. Heading to the halftime break, West Chester was able to maintain its lead, finding itself ahead by 11 (37-26) after back-to-back two-pointers by McTamney, as she closed out the first half with eight points to rank second on the team in scoring, trailing only McAteer with 10.
West Chester shot an even 50.0 % (4-of-8) from three-point territory in the first half and shot 46.9 % (15-of-32) from the field through the first 20 minutes of action, overcoming a rocky start to the second, which saw the team go just 1-of-7 from the field in the early stages.
West Chester continued to stretch its lead in the third, holding a 17-point (48-31) lead with under two minutes to play after a pair of made free throws by Johnson. Johnson hit two more free throws at the line just before the end of the third after intercepting an in-bounds pass under the basket, stretching the lead to 19 (52-33) heading to the fourth after outscoring Shepherd 15-7 in the third period.
West Chester opened the fourth on a 4-0 run thanks to a pair of made free throws by McTamney and a layup from
Brianna Seltzer (Reading, Pa./Reading) following a steal by Johnson to push the lead to 56-33. West Chester continued to extend its lead down the stretch, eventually pushing the advantage to 26 points in the closing seconds of the victory.
West Chester ended the game with a 37-32 lead in rebounding and a 25-10 advantage in turnovers and made the most of those turnovers, finishing the game with a 26-4 lead in points off turnovers in the victory.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action on Saturday afternoon against Lock Haven beginning at 1 p.m. in what will also be Senior Day for the Golden Rams.
