WEST CHESTER, PA— The West Chester women's basketball team (17-7, 14-4) earned its 10th straight victory on Wednesday evening, rolling past East Stroudsburg (13-11, 9-9), 72-54, at Hollinger Field House. Tonight's victory, which saw West Chester go wire-to-wire to earn the victory, combined with a Kutztown win over Shippensburg also moved West Chester into first-place in the PSAC East by a half-game, while also securing West Chester a spot in the 2023 PSAC Tournament.
Leading the charge for West Chester was
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, DE/Padua Academy) who had a double-double performance with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
Emily McAteer (Thornton, PA/Garnet Valley) also scored 17 points for the Golden Rams and nearly had a double-double with 8 rebounds. Other double-figure scorers for West Chester were
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, PA/Plymouth Whitemarsh) with 11 points and junior guard L
eah Johnson (Columbus, NJ/Notre Dame)L with 10 points. Johnson also contributed 7 assists and 4 rebounds in the win. The Golden Rams outrebounded the Warriors in the contest, 48-28, and forced 12 turnovers, which led to a 12-5 lead in second-chance points and 12 points off turnovers.
Scoring in the paint was another key for West Chester in the victory as the Golden Rams played to their strong inside game and tallied 38 paint points to just 24 for East Stroudsburg. In addition to the strong effort inside, West Chester also showcased stifling defense once again in the win, holding ESU guard Ryan Weise to just 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field and a 1-of-5 effort from three-point range while the grad transfer also finished with eight assists and seven rebounds in the loss.
In the first quarter, the Golden Rams jumped out to a 13-4 lead on a McTamney drive and a jumper by Johnson. Kozicki had two nice drives to the basket later in the quarter but East Stroudsburg cut the gap to six at 20-14 after one period of play.
The second quarter was a big one for Kozicki, who hit a two from the wing and then got a steal and quick layup to push the margin to 26-18.
Maya Carter (Harrisburg, PA/Bishop McDevitt), who played a big role in the win on Monday night, scored on a drive and a full court, driving layup by Johnson made it 32-20 with 1:30 left in the half. Another Kozicki basket off a nice assist from Johnson pushed the lead to 34-20 before the Warriors scored to make the halftime score, 34-22 in favor of WCU.
The halftime stats showed Kozicki with 15 points and 8 rebounds. Johnson had 8 points and 5 assists with no turnovers. West Chester shot 41.7% from the field but was a poor 0-for-9 from 3 point territory. The Golden Rams also were just 4 of 8 from the foul line in the half. Weise was 2-of-6 from the field, with five points to lead Warriors. West Chester's defense was excellent in the second quarter, holding the visitors to only eight points.
Morgan Warley (West Chester, PA/Villa Maria Academy) got the Golden Rams off to a hot start in the third quarter with a long three-pointer, bringing the score to 37-22. McAteer then scored twice for West Chester, including a three-pointer with an assist from Johnson, and the lead grew to 44-26. But East Stroudsburg battled back behind the efforts of Shyla Stanford, and a 12-2 run by the Warriors cut the lead to 46-38 to keep the game tight entering the late stages of regulation.
McAteer scored big second-chance points and followed this up with a three from the top of the key to widen the gap to 51-38 late in the third before a Weise jumper cut it back to 51-40 heading into the fourth.
In need of a run to put the game away, Carter knocked down a pair of free throws and Warley hit a big shot of her own to give West Chester a 55-42 lead and spark a 13-0 run, which extended the lead to 64-42 en route to the 72-54 victory.
Carter canned two free throws and Warley hit a bank shot to extend the lead early in the fourth quarter, 55-42. West Chester continued on its strong 13-0 point run with an
Alexa Abbonizio (Springfield, PA/Springfield) follow shot and a Johnson fallaway jumper to extend the lead to 64-42. With less than six minutes left, that lead proved to be insurmountable.
UP NEXT
The Golden Rams travel to West Virginia to meet Shepherd next Wednesday, Feb. 15 and then host Lock Haven for a 1:00 pm tip on Saturday, Feb. 18.
