Press Conference
GLENVILLE, W.V.- Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) poured in a school record 44 points as she led the team in scoring to help power West Chester (23-8) to its first NCAA Tournament victory since the 2002-03 season, defeating sixth-seeded Cal (21-11) by a final of 80-67 on Friday afternoon at Glenville State.
"I'm very proud of this team," opened head coach
Kiera Wooden. "This is a game we definitely wanted after falling to them in the Semifinals last week, so to have a second chance against them in the NCAA Tournament and to respond the way we did, I'm very proud. Responding this way is a massive credit to our team, the hard work they have put in all season, and just what we can do as a team," continued Wooden.
Tonight's victory also halts the Golden Rams losing streak against Cal and gives the team it's first win in Tournament play (PSAC and NCAA) over the Vulcans.
Johnson's 44 points, which she got on 17-of-28 shooting from the field and a 9-for-9 effort at the line, broke the previous program record of 42 points, which had been held by Mitzi Reitnouer, who scored 42 in a 1982 victory over Towson. Johnson now holds the first and third spots on the single-game scoring chart as she is also tied for third in single-game points after a 38-point effort vs West Virginia State earlier this season.
"I can do a lot of things for this team and really try to do whatever the coaches ask of me on a night-to-night basis," began Johnson when asked about her big night. "My shot was falling today, and I don't think I saw shot I didn't like, so consistently finding the bottom of the net was big for my confidence throughout the game," said Johnson.
In addition to her scoring, Johnson also came away with seven rebounds and three assists to help the Golden Rams on both ends of the floor.
Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) also finished with a double-double, scoring 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting and pulling down 11 rebounds for her 12
th double-double of the year. With this double-double, McAteer ties the single-season double-double mark under Wooden with 12, matching the 12 that Mia Hopkins logged in the 2017-18 season, which was the last time West Chester advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
West Chester trailed only briefly on Friday afternoon, falling behind by a point just 40 seconds into the game before roaring back with an 11-0 run in the first quarter that saw the Golden Rams take a 22-7 lead into the second. This early advantage helped West Chester hold off the upset-minded Vulcans and exact revenge for a loss against Cal in the PSAC Semifinals last weekend.
West Chester led by seven at the half and by just a point (51-50) after a back-and-forth third quarter, but back-to-back three-point plays by Johnson and McAteer stretched the lead back to seven early in the fourth quarter. Johnson continued her dominance after this, connecting on a pair of free throws (9-for-9 on the day) before hitting a three to stretch the lead back out to 12 with under six minutes to play.
Cal was not interested in going away quietly on Friday afternoon, pulling back to within four (67-63) with 2:15 to play, but West Chester closed out the game in dominant fashion, outscoring the Vulcans 13-7 down the stretch, going 7-for-8 at the line down the stretch, including six makes by Johnson as she broke the programs single-game scoring record, which had previously stood for 40 years.
When asked about Cal's continued comeback efforts, "We knew this was a good team and that they were going to make runs," said Wooden. "The message had to be that we were fine, so we didn't need to panic and just had to answer back. I have to give a ton of credit to our assistant coach (
Allison Hostetter), she was awesome with our offensive call sets, and they did a great job with the execution," continued Wooden.
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) also turned in a strong effort, finishing with 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting to go along with six rebounds in the win.
West Chester shot well throughout the night, shooting a blistering 53.6 % (30-of-56) from the field and 70.8 (17-of-24) at the line while also going 3-for-9 (33.3) from deep to earn the victory. West Chester shot over 50 percent from the field in three of the four quarters and shot 46.7 % from the field in the third, which was the lone quarter that saw the Golden Rams shoot below 50 % from the floor.
Ciaira Loyd finished with 20 points for Cal to lead three Vulcans in double figures on the night, being held to nine points in the second half, while Rajah Fink had 18 and Halle Herrington chipped in 14 in the season-ending setback. Cal shot well from the floor in the second and third periods of play, shooting 55.6 % from the floor in the second and 61.5 % in the third, but it was not enough to overcome a first-quarter shooting effort, which saw the Vulcans connect on just 3-of-20 from the floor.
At the end of the game, Cal shot 41.2 % (28-of-68) from the field and 22.2 % (4-of-18) from deep while also going 7-of-10 (70.0 %) from the line.
West Chester and Cal traded makes through the opening three minutes before West Chester went on a 13-2 run over the next four-and-a-half minutes to take an 18-5 lead in the first quarter with 2:27 to play in the opening frame. West Chester tacked on four more before the end of the first and allowed its foes to score just once more, leading 22-7 after the first quarter of play.
In the second, Cal began its comeback effort, pulling back to within five with just over three minutes to play in the half before
Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) drilled a three to make it 33-25 in favor of the Golden Rams. West Chester and Cal traded makes in the final moments of the first half as WCU carried a slim 37-30 lead into the halftime break as the Vulcans outscored West Chester 23-15 in the second period of action.
Johnson led all scorers with 12 points in the first half on 6-of-10 shooting, while McAteer added 10 of her own through the first 20 minutes of basketball.
Despite the Vulcans comeback effort, West Chester shot very well throughout the first half, shooting north of 50.0 % in both the first and second quarter, ending the half with a 55.6 % (15-of-27) from the field and 50.0 % (2-of-4) from three-point range, while also going an even 5-for-10 (50.0 %) at the line in the opening half of basketball.
Ciaira Loyd led the way in scoring for Cal in the first half, scoring 11 points on 5-of-13 shooting as the Vulcans ended the opening half shooting 34.2 % (13-of-38) in the first half after shooting just 15.0 % (3-of-20) from the floor in the first quarter and a much improved 55.6 % (10-of-18) in the second quarter. Cal also connected on just 2-of-11 from three in the half while also going 2-for-4 at the line through the first 20 minutes.
After a tight third, which saw West Chester shoot its lowest percentage of the game (46.7 %) from the field as the Vulcans closed the gap to just one heading into the fourth.
West Chester opened the fourth on an 11-0 run, matching its run from the first quarter to take a 62-50 lead over the Vulcans. Cal attempted to mount another late comeback, but West Chester was efficient from the line in the closing moments of regulation, pulling away to an 80-67 victory.
With this win, the Golden Rams first since head coach
Kiera Wooden's senior year, when the team beat Pfeiffer as the fifth-seed, West Chester advances to the Round of 32 for the fourth time in program history and the first time since the 2002-03 season.
"We've been building for this all year," noted Wooden. "We started out with a game against the defending National Champions and put a lot of other tough games on our schedule so the whole year was geared toward this moment," explained the Golden Rams ninth-year mentor.
West Chester will face seventh-seeded Charleston (W.V,) in the Round of 32 tomorrow night beginning at 5 pm.
