KUTZTOWN, Pa.- Following a pair of wins to climb back above .500 in league action, the West Chester University women's basketball team (10-5, 5-4) will look to capture its first road win of the season at Kutztown (7-8, 5-4) on Wednesday night beginning at 5:30 p.m.
SERIES INFORMATION
West Chester renews its rivalry with Kutztown tonight with a slim 47-37 lead in the all-time series over the Golden Bears. Losers of five of the last six, West Chester halted a five-game skid against Malouf's Golden Bears in Hollinger last February. West Chester is now looking for its first win at Keystone Arena since February of the 2017-18 season when the Golden Rams won by a 93-69 final en route to a PSAC Eastern Regular Season crown.
When the two teams met in Hollinger last February,
Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) led all scorers with 24 points, while
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua) picked up a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds to go along with 15 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists from
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame). West Chester never trailed in this victory, leading by as many as 17 in the third quarter en route to a 69-54 win over the Golden Bears.
Wednesday night promises to be a big game for both sides as the winner will claim sole-possession of second-place in the PSAC East as both the Golden Rams and Golden Bears chase Lock Haven for the top spot.
FLOCK TALK
West Chester continued to show itself to be a fearsome opponent in Hollinger, posting a 66-35 victory over East Stroudsburg in front of a strong Alumni Day crowd. On a day that saw graduate student guard
Leah Johnson break the career assist record and the Golden Rams, along with former head coach Deirdre Kane and record holder Colleen McNamara, present a ball to the guard, West Chester never struggled, leading by as many as 36 midway through the fourth quarter. The game featured two ties and a lead change in the opening few possessions but an 8-0 run by the Golden Rams in the first quarter gave the Purple and Gold a lead it would never relinquish. West Chester carried a 41-14 lead into the halftime break and never allowed its guests to come back in the second half. West Chester shot 42.4 % from the field and 33.3 % from deep while holding ESU to just 25.0 % from the field and 20.0 % from beyond.
Emily McAteer led all scorers with 17 pts and was one of three Golden Rams in double figures as
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) added 13 to go along with 10 from Johnson.
On Wednesday night, West Chester will look to find its footing on the road and pick up its first road victory as the midway point of PSAC East play draws ever closer. Simply saying the Golden Rams are winless on the road does a severe disservice to West Chester, as the squad's road foes have a combined record of 70-10, with two of those opponents (Gannon and Jefferson) residing in the top 10 of the WBCA Top-25. Be this fact as it may; the numbers do seem to show that West Chester is a different team away from Hollinger, averaging 10 fewer points per game and allowing 26 more points per game as the visiting team on the scoreboard.
Averaging 24.6 points per game since the start of PSAC East play, McAteer has once again risen to the top of the WCU scoring chart this season, averaging a team-best 15.8 points per game, while also leading the team in rebounding, averaging 6.9 per game. The veteran forward ranks 10
th in the PSAC in scoring for the year and 14
th in rebounding overall and in league action. Johnson is close behind in scoring, averaging 14.7 points per game on the year and 15.8 points in league action, which ranks 11
th in the PSAC, trailing McAteer's 16.0 per game. The graduate student guard who broke the career assist record, which had stood since 1990 on Saturday afternoon with her six-assist performance, also leads the team in helpers, averaging 5.0 per game, which also leads the PSAC. Kozicki is the third Golden Ram averaging in double figures so far this season, averaging 10.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, while McTamney is close behind, averaging 10.0 points per game after a pair of strong efforts a week ago.
SCOUTING KUTZTOWN
Kutztown enters play following a victory of its own on Saturday afternoon, erasing a two-point halftime deficit to earn a 54-38 victory over Shippensburg. The Golden Bears' victory over the Raiders was a low-scoring affair as neither side shot above 41.0 % from the field, but Kutztown outscored its guests 18-9 in the third quarter to overcome a slow start and secure the home victory. Naia Pulliam led the team in scoring with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Zara Zerman added five assists to keep the Golden Bear offense moving well throughout the afternoon.
Entering play with a mark of 7-8 on the year, Kutztown averages just under 62 (61.9) points per game while holding its foes to 59.5 points per game, shooting 37.1 % from the field compared to 35.2 % by its opponents. Pulliam is the team's leading scorer, averaging 15.0 points per game while dishing out an average of 1.9 assists per contest. Senior forward Abbey Hearn is second on the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 12.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, while Casey Remolde averages 8.9 points and a team-best 6.2 rebounds per game.
UP NEXT
Wednesday night will be the Golden Ram's lone game of the week as the team does not return to action until next Wednesday night at Shippensburg, with the squad's next home game not coming until Saturday, January 27, vs Mansfield.
