KUTZTOWN, Pa.- Seeking its first road victory of the 2023-24 season, the West Chester University women's basketball team (11-5, 6-4) got the win it was seeking convincingly on Wednesday night, posting a 73-54 victory over Kutztown (7-9, 5-5) inside Keystone Arena.
West Chester never trailed in the victory, leading for all but 23 seconds of play while stretching its lead to as many as 32 points with 7:20 to play in the fourth quarter on Wednesday night.
The Golden Rams ended the night with four players in double figures led by 23 points from
Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) and a 15-point/14-rebound double-double by
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua). Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) and
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) also finished in double figures, finishing with 13 and 12 points, respectively, to help lead the Golden Rams to their first road victory over Kutztown since February of the 2017-18 season. In addition to her 12 points, Johnson also led the team in assists, finishing with six in the victory along with a team-best three steals, while McAteer added five rebounds and five helpers in the road triumph.
Five early points by Johnson helped West Chester jump out to an 8-0 lead, eventually extending this advantage to 14-6 midway through the first quarter after a McTamney layup gave the junior her ninth point of the evening. Kutztown scored six of the final eight points of the period courtesy of a pair of made threes by Naia Pulliam, but West Chester still carried a 24-15 lead into the second quarter.
West Chester started the second quarter on an 11-3 run, thanks in part to five quick points by McAteer in the first 4:11 of the frame, as the visiting Golden Rams took a comfortable 35-18 lead over their hosts. The second quarter was good to McAteer and the Golden Rams as the team shot 9-of-15 from the field, including a 3-for-4 effort from deep, led by 12 points from McAteer to carry a 46-26 lead into the halftime break.
Heading to the half as the game's leading scorer with 16 points, McAteer picked up right where she left off in the second half, scoring the first points of the half 1:09 into the third to stretch the lead to 48-26. West Chester continued to play well throughout the third quarter, once again outscoring the Golden Bears by a 21-13 margin, which helped West Chester take its biggest lead of the game (32 points; 71-39) in the early stages of the fourth quarter.
With a comfortable lead in hand in the fourth, West Chester was once again able to turn to its second unit down the stretch, and while Kutztown did outscore the Golden Rams 15-6 in the frame, it was not nearly enough for the hosts to mount a comeback as West Chester left Keystone Arena with a 73-54 victory on Wednesday night.
West Chester shot 46.9 % (30-of-64) from the field on Wednesday night, including a 42.9 % (9-of-21) effort from deep, while also connecting on 4-of-6 attempts at the free throw line. West Chester shot tremendously well in the first half, shooting 52.6 % from the field in the first quarter and 56.3 % in the second, while connecting on 3-of-5 from deep in both quarters to claim a commanding lead and roll to the victory.
Kutztown shot just 30.0 % (18-of-60) from the field on Wednesday night, shooting below 32 % in every quarter and just 27.0 % (10-of-37) from three-point territory. The Golden Bears did make the most of their trips to the line, connecting on 8-of-9 (88.9 %) of their attempts at the charity stripe.
Pulliam led the Golden Bears in scoring, finishing with 14 points on 5-fo-12 shooting, including a 3-for-7 effort from distance, while Leila Hurley added 14 points of her own on a team-best 4-of-9 shooting from three-point range in 23 minutes off the bench.
West Chester ended the game with a 46-30 lead in rebounding, including a 16-12 lead on the offensive glass, which resulted in a 13-5 advantage in second-chance points. The Golden Rams also ended the game with a 12-11 lead in the turnover battle, which resulted in a 23-9 lead in points off turnovers and a 34-14 lead in points in the paint.
Up Next:
West Chester will have a well-deserved break this weekend before heading to Shippensburg next Wednesday night beginning at 6 p.m.
