SHIPPENSBURG, Pa.- Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) turned in a stellar performance, finishing with 32 points to help lead West Chester (16-7, 13-4) past Shippensburg (18-4, 13-3) in for a huge PSAC East-road victory by an 80-70 final.
West Chester trailed for much of the game but turned in an outstanding fourth-quarter performance, outscoring Shippensburg 31-17 in the fourth behind great fourth-quarter performances by Johnson and
Maya Carter (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt), who finished the fourth with 13 and eight points, respectively to help lead the Golden Rams to the road victory.
Trailing by four heading into the fourth, West Chester erased the deficit quickly, opening the fourth on a 9-2 run behind five early points from Johnson and four more from Carter as West Chester took its largest lead of the game to that point at 58-55. Shippensburg answered back and was able to tie the score at 64-64 before West Chester went on another big run, outscoring the Raiders 10-1 over the next three minutes, including four more points from Carter and six more from Johnson as West Chester took a commanding 74-65 lead with under 30 seconds to play in regulation. This commanding lead proved to be enough to allow West Chester to hold off Shippensburg for a massive 80-70 PSAC East road win on Monday evening, giving West Chester its ninth win in a row.
With two of the top teams in the PSAC East going head-to-head, the game did not need any additional storylines; however, the game also featured two of the top guards in the PSAC and Division II women's basketball in Johnson and Ariel Jones. This matchup, which was a great one earlier in the season, proved to be even better tonight, with both players finishing over 30 points as Johnson scored 32 to lead the Golden Rams to victory while Jones finished with 36, although it was not enough to will her team to the victory.
West Chester ended the game shooting 49.2 % (30-of-61) from the field and 3-of-12 (25.0 %) from three-point land while also going 17-of-19 (89.5 %) at the line in the win. West Chester turned in one of its best fourth-quarter shooting performances of the year to earn this victory, going 1-for-1 from three-point land and 10-of-10 from the line while connecting on 62.5 % (10-of-16) from the field to complete the comeback and eventually pull away for a 10-point victory.
West Chester also stiffened defensively in the fourth, stifling the Raiders shooters, holding them to just 23.5 % (4-of-17) shooting from the field, 22.2 % (2-of-9) from beyond the arc, and 7-of-8 shooting from the line in the final 10 minutes. This poor fourth-quarter shooting effort, thanks to the defensive effort by the Golden Rams, led to the Raiders shooting just 37.9 % (25-of-66) from the field and 36.4 % (8-of-22) from three-point range on the night while also going 12-for-19 from the line, despite holding an advantage in this category for much of the evening.
While Jones was one of just two Raiders in double figures, as Treasure George also finished with 17, the Golden Rams had three in double figures led by Johnson and her 32, while PSAC East Athlete of the Week
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua) added 18 to go along with 12 from Carter, including her eight fourth-quarter points. Kozicki also finished with 11 rebounds, notching her third double-double in a row as the Golden Rams ended the game with a 45-34 advantage in rebounding, leading to 10 second-chance points in the victory.
The first quarter was tight throughout, with the score being tied at 8-8 with just over six minutes to play in the opening frame before Shippensburg closed the first on an 11-6 run to take a 19-14 lead into the second quarter.
In the second, West Chester erased the deficit quickly, pulling back to within four with under six minutes to play after a jumper by
Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) before eventually evening the score at 36-36 with a 4-0 run to end the half after layups by
Alexa Abbonizio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) and McAteer to close out the half.
The two sides continued to trade makes through the early stages of the second half, with neither side managing a lead larger than five until 2:36 remained when Shippensburg pulled ahead by five after another jumper by Ariel Jones as she continued her impressive evening. Johnson brought West Chester back to within two moments later after a three-point play following a Shippensburg turnover. West Chester had a chance to tie the game heading to the fourth, but Shippensburg scored the final points of the frame on a layup by Lauren Pettis as the Raiders carried a slim 53-49 lead into the fourth, benefitting from a two-minute scoreless stretch by the Golden Rams to end the third.
West Chester opened the fourth on a 7-2 run, courtesy of a pair of makes by Johnson and a put-back layup by Carter, giving West Chester a 56-55 lead early in the fourth. Carter followed this up quickly with another jumper to give West Chester a 58-55 lead, which was its largest lead of the game to that point with under 6:30 to play in regulation. Ariel Jones, who had gone to the bench early in the fourth with four fouls, entered with under five minutes to play and quickly connected on a three to even the score at 60-60 with under 4:30 to play. West Chester pulled away late, outscoring the Raiders 20-10 over the final minutes of regulation thanks in part to a 5-for-7 shooting effort from the field and a perfect 10-for-10 effort at the line in the final moments to earn the road victory.
In addition to its advantage in rebounding at the end of regulation, West Chester also ended the game with a 34-22 lead in points in the paint and a commanding 18-0 edge in points off the bench, thanks to the 12 from Carter and six more from Abbonizio with four of those six coming at the line in the final minute as West Chester put the game out of reach.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action on Wednesday night vs East Stroudsburg beginning at 5:30 p.m. in what will be its third game in five days before a well-deserved break, which will see West Chester be off until next Wednesday, February 15
th, when the team goes to Shepherd.
