WEST CHESTER, PA— The West Chester women's basketball team (19-7, 16-4) battled back in the second half to earn its 12th straight victory on Saturday, edging Lock Haven (10-15, 8-12) by 52-46 final inside Hollinger Field House. The victory, saw West Chester erase a halftime deficit for the first time this season, outscoring its guests 35-25 in the second half to avoid a senior-day upset.
Leading the way again for WCU was
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, DE/Padua Academy) who had a double-double performance with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Emily McAteer (Thornton, PA/Garnet Valley) had a double-double as well with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Rams. Point guard
Leah Johnson (Columbus, NJ/Notre Dame) started slowly but got rolling in the second half to finish with 11 points, seven assists and four steals. Johnson's seven helpers also allowed her to break the single-season assist record, previously held by Colleen McNamara from the 1988-89 season, as Johnson now has 180 assists on the season.
West Chester started off the contest sluggishly as Lock Haven played tight defense and the Golden Rams were misfiring from the field.
Abby Penjuke (Collegeville, PA/Methacton), who was honored before the Senior Day game and started the contest for the Golden Rams, gave WCU a 10-6 lead with a bank shot midway through the opening quarter. Penjuke then scored on a nice drive to make it 12-6 West Chester, but Lock Haven fought back quickly with an 8-0 run to end the quarter. After one period, the Bald Eagles led the Golden Rams by two (14-12).
West Chester shot just 5-for-14 in the first quarter with one 3-point basket by Kozicki. The Golden Rams also turned the ball over five times and were outrebounded by the visitors, 11-7.
The Golden Rams entered the game averaging over 75 points per game. But with too many turnovers and a slow tempo in the game, the hosts needed to pick up the pace. However, the second quarter was even lower scoring, with lots of good defensive plays, missed shots and turnovers from sloppy passing. McAteer scored to start the second quarter and then Johnson made a fast break layup to put West Chester up by 17-14 with almost six minutes left in the half.
Just when the home fans started to think the Golden Ram offense was back on track, the WCU scoring hit a dry spell. Brooke Lawyer hit a long three-pointer for Lock Haven to tie the score at 17-17 with 5:40 left in the first half. West Chester went cold for the rest of the second period and also got into some foul trouble, with McAteer and Kozicki both picking up their third fouls in the sluggish period. Jackie Fetsko scored on an offensive rebound basket for the Bald Eagles and the half ended with Lock Haven on top, 21-17.
West Chester's dry spell lasted almost six minutes to close out the low-scoring second quarter. Lock Haven's offense wasn't any better as the Bald Eagles shot 8 of 27 in the first half (29.6%) to West Chester's 7 of 22 field goals (31.8%). Each team made just one 3-pointer in the half. The Golden Rams were hurt by an unusually high turnover count, with 14 total through two periods. Lock Haven had six steals in the first half and tied West Chester with 18 rebounds apiece. At halftime, Kozicki and Johnson led WCU with 5 points each and Penjuke had 4 points. There were three ties and five lead changes in the topsy-turvy opening half.
The game turned more positive for the Golden Rams in the third quarter. Head Coach
Kiera Wooden went to a full court, pressing defense to pick up the speed and intensity of the contest and this strategy worked early in the second half. A McAteer layup from a Johnson assist tied the score at 24-24 and then
Morgan Warley (West Chester, PA/Villa Maria Academy) gave the Golden Rams a lift with a drive to the basket for a three-point play.
Maya Carter (Harrisburg, PA/Bishop McDevitt) hit a fadeaway shot to give the Rams a 29-26 lead but Lock Haven tied it again on a Lawyer 3-pointer.
Thanks to baskets by Kozicki and McAteer, the Golden Rams hung to a tight 36-35 lead after three quarters. At the point, Lawyer was the leading scorer in the game with 12 points while no West Chester players were in double figures. Kozicki had nine points and nine rebounds with one more quarter to play. The Golden Rams had 0 turnovers in the third period and jumped ahead in the rebounding battle by 28-26. The tide had started to turn in favor of the hosts, who scored a more Ram-like 19 points in the quarter.
Sophomore guard Kaziah Ross (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton) was inserted into the contest in the third quarter for more ballhandling and defense, and this move by Coach Wooden was a positive one. Ross did not score in the game but she passed the ball well, had 3 rebounds and one assist.
After a 39-tie early in the fourth quarter, Johnson and
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, PA/Plymouth Whitemarsh) combined to give the Rams a 45-39 lead. Kozicki canned a jumper to make it 47-42 with 2:25 left and after a Lock Haven basket, Johnson swished two free throws to keep the margin at six points with 37 seconds left, 50-44. McAteer's two free throws with 15 seconds left iced the game for the Golden Rams and the contest ended 52-46 in favor of West Chester.
The Golden Rams shot just 18-of-51 (35.3%) for the game and hit on 2-of-7 three-pointers for 28.6% shooting from deep. Lock Haven was 17-of-56 from the field overall (30.4%) and a poor 3-of-21 from 3-point range for 14.3% shooting from long range. West Chester ended up winning the rebounding battle, 40-36, and outscored the Bald Eagles on points in the paint, 28-16. After the high total of 14 turnovers in the first half, the Rams finished the game with just 18 total turnovers. Lock Haven was led by Brooke Lawyer with 15 points and Jackie Fetsko with 10.
Up Next:
The Golden Rams (19-7) will go for their 20
th win of the season and 13
th in a row when they host Millersville this Wednesday for a 5:30 pm tip-off.
