MANSFIELD, Pa.- Following a win over Kutztown on for its seventh victory in a row on Wednesday night, the West Chester women's basketball team (14-7, 11-4) has shifted its attention to a Saturday afternoon matchup at Mansfield (2-17, 1-14) beginning at 1 p.m.
Series Information
West Chester enters play on Saturday afternoon holding a commanding 65-11 lead in the all-time series over Mansfield, including wins in each of the last two contests with a 75-43 victory earlier this season. When West Chester visited Mansfield a year ago, it took overtime for Mansfield to halt a 20-game losing streak vs the Golden Rams, a result which West Chester will be working to ensure is not duplicated on Saturday afternoon.
When West Chester and Mansfield met earlier this season,
Leah Johnson became just the fourth player in school history to record a triple-double, finishing with 14 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists, while
Emily McAteer added a double-double as the duo became the first under head coach
Kiera Wooden to record a triple-double and a double-double in the same game. West Chester never trailed on Wednesday night, stretching its lead to as many as 32 in the fourth on the way to a convincing 75-43 victory over Mansfield in the first win of 2023.
Flock Talk
Entering play on its longest winning streak since the 2017-18 season, West Chester was eager to extend its streak and exact revenge for a loss at the hands of Kutztown earlier this season. West Chester did that on Wednesday night, going wire-to-wire for a 69-54 victory over Kutztown.
Emily McAteer led the way in scoring with 24 points, while
Michelle Kozicki logged a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds to help West Chester, who led by as many as 17 late in the third roll to a 69-54 victory over its Eastern Division rival. West Chester shot 28-of-66 from the field and connected on six three-pointers, including a perfect 4-for-4 effort from McAteer in a statement win for the Golden Rams.
Reminiscent of teams of old, West Chester is currently holding its longest winning streak since the 2017-18 season, a seven-game streak dating back to a 70-51 win over Clarion on January 11
th. West Chester is currently in the midst of another busy stretch, which has the team playing four times in the first eight days of the month, including Saturday afternoon, Monday night, and Wednesday night.
Offensive versatility has been important for West Chester, averaging 75.4 points per game so far this season, led by a 16.5 point per game scoring average by
Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley). McAteer is one of four Golden Rams averaging in double figures on the year as
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh and
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) are tied for second averaging 15.0 points per game each, with
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua) fourth on the team, averaging 13.0 points per game. McAteer is the team's leading rebounder, averaging 8.8 boards per game with 10 double-doubles on the season, the most since Mia Hopkins registered 12 in the 2017-18 season. After an excellent sophomore season, which saw her earn First Team All-Conference honors, Johnson has emerged as one of the top facilitating guards in the country, averaging 7.3 assists per game, which ranks third best in the Nation.
Scouting Mansfield
Mansfield enters play in the midst of a four-game losing streak, with its most recent setback coming at East Stroudsburg by a 63-41 final on Wednesday night. Mansfield fell behind early, trailing by 16 at the half, and attempted to fight its way back into the game in the second, but it was to no avail as the Warriors pulled away for the 22-point victory. Mansfield shot just 31.3 % from the field and 9.1 % from three-point territory while also committing 25 turnovers in the setback. Jasmine Hilton led the way in scoring with 16 points while also coming away with a team-high 14 rebounds as she continues to show herself as one of the more dangerous weapons for the Mountaineers this season.
Hilton, who also led the team in scoring in the first matchup against West Chester earlier this season, finishing with 15 points, is the Mountaineers leading scorer on the year, averaging 16.7 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, leading the team in both categories. Alivia Paeglow has also been a consistent contributor for Mansfield this year, averaging 9.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game to rank second on the team in both categories. As a unit, Mansfield averages just 53.8 points per game due in part to a 26.6 % three-point shooting percentage on the year and an average of 20.8 turnovers per game through 19 games so far this season.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action on Monday night at Shippensburg beginning at 6 p.m.
