GLENVILLE, W.V.- Following the program's first NCAA Tournament win in 20 years over California (Pa.) on Friday, West Chester University's women's basketball team (24-8) took its historic season a step further on Saturday night, defeating Charleston (W.V.) (23-9) by a final of 73-60 to advance to its first Atlantic Region final in program history on Monday night.
"I'm just so proud of this team," opened head coach
Kiera Wooden. "This team is writing its own story and doing things that we have never done in our history. They are doing it all together, enjoying the ride and the moment, and I'm enjoying it right along with them. I can't say much more than I'm very proud of the effort they are putting forth," said Wooden.
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) led all scorers with 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting and 11 rebounds, while
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua) also logged a double-double, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame), who was the storyline a night ago, finished with 13, thanks in part to a 7-for-7 effort at the line, while
Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) scored 11 points of her own in the victory. Johnson, who remains fourth in the nation in assists, also led all players in assists in tonight's win, finishing with six in the victory.
When asked about the balanced attack and her 20-point night, McTamney said, "It's very important for us all to contribute. Leah certainly had a great night last night, so we knew we had to step up and help her out today since it wouldn't be easy to do again, and we did exactly that," continued the sophomore guard.
West Chester trailed only briefly in the victory on Saturday night, trailing by no more than three and only in the early stages of the first quarter, before rallying back and leading by as many as 19 en route to the win over the Golden Eagles. Leading by five at the end of the first quarter, West Chester broke the game open in the second, outscoring its foes 17-9 in the second quarter to carry a 37-24 lead into the halftime break. West Chester extended its lead in the third thanks to a stellar 76.9 % (10-of-13) effort from the field, which allowed the Golden Rams to outscore the Golden Eagles 22-16 to lead by 19 heading into the fourth.
This 19-point lead at the end of three quarters of play was critical for West Chester. Charleston sunk five three-pointers in the fourth quarter, which brought the Golden Eagles back into the game, cutting the lead to single digits. But West Chester closed out the game strong, holding on for the win over upset-minded Charleston.
Charleston was led offensively by a pair of 18-point efforts from Markyia McCormick and Dakota Reeves while Trinity Palacio chipped in 13 of her own in the setback.
As a team, West Chester shot 44.4 % (24-of-54) from the field and went 1-for-7 (14.3 %) from three-point range, but a 24-for-26 (92.3 %) effort at the line and a 41-26 lead on the glass helped West Chester defeat the Golden Eagles and continue its impressive run.
"I thought we did a great job rebounding in this game," said Kozicki. "Rebounding is so important in any game, and after watching yesterday, we knew how hard they rebound and crash. So, we did talk in pregame about how important our rebounding effort would be."
West Chester's plus-15 lead on the glass also resulted in a 16-11 lead in second-chance points for West Chester, while the Golden Rams scored nearly half of their points in the paint, finishing the game with a 36-8 lead in points in the paint. The Golden Rams also ended the game with a 16-15 lead in the turnover battle and a corresponding 20-12 advantage in points off turnovers, which, combined with an 8-2 lead in points off the break, helped the Golden Rams advance to the regional Final for the first time in program history.
"When we are at our best, we are turning people over and capitalizing on those turnovers," noted Wooden. "It's always nice to not have to set up in the halfcourt on every possession and get some points by getting out and running. I thought we also did a great job in the paint again tonight, as we have for much of the season. With our guard size, we are able to finish in the paint with just about every player on the floor, which is big for us since we aren't traditionally a big three-point shooting team," continued Wooden.
In stark contrast to Friday's game vs CalU, it was a slow start offensively for West Chester on Saturday evening, struggling from the field through the first five minutes of the game as the two sides were tied at 10-10 at the first quarter media timeout.
Out of that timeout, West Chester went on a 5-0 run to take a 15-10 lead before Dakota Reeves answered quickly with a wing three to cut the West Chester lead to 15-13 with two minutes to play in the first quarter. Charleston evened the score at the line moments later before a three-point play by Johnson restored a three-point (18-15) lead for the Golden Rams.
Morgan Warley (West Chester, Pa./Villa Maria) scored the final points of the quarter with a put-back layup under the basket to give West Chester a narrow 20-15 lead after the first quarter.
After shooting north of 50 % from the field in the first quarter yesterday, West Chester shot just 43.8 % (7-of-16) in the first 10 minutes tonight. But, thanks to a 14-4 lead in rebounding and four second-chance points, the Golden Rams still led at the end of the first quarter.
West Chester opened the second on a 6-0 run, forcing the Golden Eagles into multiple early turnovers, resulting in points on the other end, which prompted a quick timeout by Charleston head coach Tianni Kelly just under three minutes into the period with West Chester leading 26-15. Charleston got its first points of the quarter with five minutes to play, but not until West Chester had stretched its lead to 15 (30-15). This basket sparked a 9-2 run by the Golden Eagles over the next two and a half minutes, prompting a WCU timeout with 2:41 to play until halftime. Leading 32-24 out of the timeout, West Chester stretched its lead back to 10 with a basket underneath by
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua). Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) followed this up with an and-one layup, which pushed the lead to 37-24 with 1:08 to play until the half, which would prove to be the lead that West Chester carried into the halftime break.
McTamney and Kozicki led the way in scoring in the first half for West Chester, scoring eight points each, while McTamney, who shot a blistering 4-of-5 from the field, also recorded eight rebounds in the first half, approaching a double-double through just 20 minutes of basketball.
Charleston sunk a pair of free throws to open the second half, halting a three-minute scoreless streak that the Golden Eagles had found themselves in to end the first half while also pulling back to within 11 (37-26). West Chester responded quickly, stretching its lead to 50-33 with under five minutes to play in the third. Charleston began to mount its comeback in the late stages of the third, going on a 7-2 run over the next three minutes. West Chester responded with yet another run of its own, eventually carrying a 59-40 lead into the fourth and final period of play.
In the fourth, Charleston cut the deficit down to just 11 with 5:36 to play, before West Chester stretched its lead back to 19 (59-40). Charleston would not go away without a fight as the Golden Eagles went on a 14-4 run, which closed the WCU lead to just 63-54 with 3:11 to play in regulation. West Chester went 4-for-4 at the line over the next minute to stretch the lead back to 67-54 with under two minutes remaining. Charleston tried to mount yet another late comeback, pulling to within 10, before the Golden Rams closed out the victory doubling its combined NCAA Tournament win total from previous years.
Charleston shot 32.1 % (18-of-56) from the field and connected on 11-of-33 (33.3 %) attempts from three-point range, while also 13-of-16 (81.3 %) at the line, but it was not enough to pull off its second upset in as many games against the third-seeded Golden Rams.
With this victory, West Chester advances to its first regional final in program history and will face Glenville State beginning at 7 p.m. on Monday night.
