WEST CHESTER, Pa.- After dropping each of its first two games of the 2024 half of the schedule, the West Chester University women's basketball team (9-5, 4-4) got back in the win column on Wednesday night with an 82-27 drubbing of PSAC East foe Shepherd. The Golden Rams never trailed in this game and led by as many as 56 en route to the team's largest victory under head coach Kiera Wooden, the largest victory since November of the 2001 season and the largest win over a conference foe since February of the 1993-94 season. The victory improved West Chester to a perfect 9-0 at home while also serving as the eighth home victory by 15 points or more. Today, West Chester will face East Stroudsburg (4-8, 2-5), looking to extend its winning streak against the Warriors to five with the opening tip set for 1 p.m. on what is also Alumni Day, presented by the West Chester University Alumni Association.
 SERIES INFORMATION
West Chester remains home today, where the Golden Rams have not lost since early January of last year, to welcome East Stroudsburg for an Alumni Day clash. West Chester holds an 82-33 lead in the all-time series against ESU, winning each of the last four meetings, including a 72-54 victory in Hollinger a year ago. West Chester has not lost to ESU in Hollinger since January of the 2019-20 season when the Golden Rams fell by a 57-41 final as part of a three-game losing streak vs ESU. On February 8, 2023, West Chester captured its 10th win in as many tries with a wire-to-wire victory over the visiting Warriors. West Chester led by six after the first quarter and by 12 at the half, never finding itself in much trouble in the Eastern Division triumph. Michelle Kozicki led the team in scoring with 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Emily McAteer scored 17 points of her own to go along with eight rebounds. Anna McTamney and Leah Johnson added 11 and 10 points, respectively, as West Chester saw four members of its starting five finish in double figures.
 WHAT'S HAPPENING PREGAME
 With two assists, graduate student guard Leah Johnson will tie the career-assist record currently held by Colleen McNamara (509). Should the grad student accomplish this in the first half of action, McNamara and WCU head coach Kiera Wooden will present Johnson with a commemorative basketball before the halftime break. Following today's game and just before the men's basketball game vs. ESU, West Chester will also formally unveil its plan for a redesign and renaming of the Hollinger Court in honor of legendary head coaches Deirdre Kane and Dick DeLaney, who each led their respective programs for 27 years and combined for 847 wins.
 FLOCK TALK
 Looking to halt a two-game losing streak and avoid its first three-game streak since 2021, the West Chester University women's basketball team accomplished this goal and then some on Wednesday night, rolling to an 82-27 victory over Shepherd in its first home game of 2024. West Chester led 7-6 at the first media timeout but got on a 42-0 run following this break, which lasted until the early stages of the third quarter, to take a commanding lead, which the Golden Rams would never think of relinquishing. Emily McAteer followed up her career-high 33-point effort on Saturday with a 24-point performance on Wednesday night, while McTamney and Johnson finished with 14 and 11 each. Needing eight assists to tie and nine to pass McNamara for the career assist record entering play on Wednesday night, Johnson flirted with history throughout the evening, finishing with six assists and seven rebounds as she also continues to chase assistant coach Allison Hostetter's guard rebounding record. McTamney, the 2022-23 PSAC East Defensive Player of the Year, lived up to this recognition and then some on Wednesday night, coming away with a career-high five steals and a block in the 55-point triumph.
Averaging 28.5 points per game over the first two PSAC East games of the year, McAteer has climbed to the top of the scoring leaderboard for WCU this season, averaging 15.7 points per game, while Johnson averages 15.1 points per game and is now just 108 points away from the scoring record currently held by Brittany Sicinski. McAteer also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.9 boards per game, while Johnson averages 4.9 assists per game, which ranks second-best in the PSAC, trailing only Ella Kale of Bloomsburg.
As a team, West Chester averages 73.9 points per game, outscoring opponents by an average of 16.0 points per game, thanks to 43.2 % shooting from the field and a 41.6-33.8 lead in rebounding on the season. West Chester has been dominant in the paint this season, outscoring opponents in every game but one and entering play on Saturday with a 450-278 (32.1.-19.9/g) lead in this category.
 SCOUTING ESU
East Stroudsburg also enters play following a victory over Shepherd, defeating the Rams 84-76 in the PSAC East opener last Saturday afternoon in Shepherdstown. Leading by eight after the first quarter and four at the half, ESU got some much-needed breathing room in the third quarter, stretching its lead back to double digits heading into the fourth. Chestnut Hill transfer Emily Chimel led the team in scoring, finishing with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Izzy Vogel, who is the team's leading scorer on the year, averaging 8.7 points per game, connected on a pair of threes, while also coming away with three steals and two blocks. As a team, ESU enters play with a mark of 4-8 on the year, averaging 51.5 points per game on 35.8 % shooting from the field. East Stroudsburg also enters play on the wrong side of the rebounding and turnover battles so far this year, losing the rebounding battle by a -2.9 (36.3-33.4) margin and averaging 18.0 turnovers per game, which is 2.5 more than its foes.
 UP NEXT
West Chester will play only once next week, visiting Kutztown next Wednesday night at 5:30 before traveling to Shippensburg on January 24. The Golden Rams will not return home until a January 27 battle against Mansfield beginning at 1 p.m.
