CALIFORNIA, Pa.- Following an 83-56 victory over Clarion to finish the 2023 half of the season with a win, the No. 21 West Chester University women's basketball team (8-3, 3-2) has shifted its attention to its final PSAC East/West Crossover game of the year on Wednesday afternoon at California (Pa.) (8-3, 3-2) beginning at 1 p.m.
Series Information
Tomorrow afternoon's meeting between the Golden Rams and Vulcans is the third between the two foes in the last two years, although it is the first true home or away game for either side since December of the 2021-22 season when West Chester traveled to Cal fell by a 97-60 final. A year ago, the two sides met twice in a week, first doing battle in the PSAC Semifinals, a game which ended in a narrow 62-59 victory for Cal inside the Highmark Events Center at Gannon before squaring off just six days later in the NCAA Tournament in Glenville, West Virginia. In the NCAA Tournament, West Chester picked up its first NCAA Tournament victory since the 2002-03 season with an 80-67 win over the Vulcans thanks in large part to a record-setting 44-point effort from
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame).
In the all-time series, West Chester trails the Vulcans 26-3 after halting a nine-game losing streak against the Vulcans in the NCAA Tournament a season ago. The Golden Rams last road win over the Vulcans came during the 2011-12 season when West Chester earned an 89-66 victory behind a pair of 22-point efforts from Alex Lennon and current assistant coach
Allison Hostetter.
Flock Talk
West Chester enters play looking to spark a new winning streak after going just 1-2 over its last three games and 4-2 for December, cooling off slightly from its stellar start to the 2023 season. West Chester got back on track on Saturday afternoon against the winless Clarion team, posting an 83-56 victory behind a 52-point second half, which was the Golden Ram's best offensive half of the 2023-24 season. West Chester looked like its old self on Saturday afternoon against the Golden Eagles, trailing for less than two minutes and leading by as many as 32 late in the fourth quarter, taking advantage of four players in double figures, led by a near triple-double (15 points, nine assists, eight rebounds) from Johnson.
Briana Seltzer (Reading, Pa./Reading) also made her presence felt off the bench on Saturday, logging 21 crucial minutes and scoring nine points to lead the Golden Ram's second unit in scoring. Head coach
Kiera Wooden's charges got off to a bit of a slow start in the first quarter, connecting on just 5-of-15 from the field to take a 13-5 lead into the second and led 31-10 at the half. The Golden Rams found another gear in the second half, scoring 27 points on 8-of-18 (44.4 %) shooting from the field in the third before shooting a blistering 56.3 % from the field and 57.1 % from beyond the arc in the fourth to add another 25 points and roll to the victory. On a day that saw her honored for scoring her 1000
th career point,
Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) tied for second on the team in scoring with
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua), scoring 14 points each.
Jayde Boyd (Pittsburgh, Pa./Oakland Catholic) was the final Golden Ram in double figures, finishing with 11 points, including nine in the fourth quarter, which helped her record her 1000th collegiate point as well.
For the year, West Chester enters play on Wednesday with the second-ranked offense in the PSAC, averaging 75.1 points per game, while also holding opponents to 59.2 points per game, which is fifth best in the PSAC entering 2024. West Chester shoots 43.4 % from the field on the year, which also ranks fourth in the PSAC, while limiting its opponents to just 36.2 % from the field and 24.9 % from deep, which ranks fourth and second in the league. The Golden Rams also continue to be among the best in the league in rebounding, averaging 41.3 rebounds per game, which is tied for fourth best in the league, while leading the loop in rebounding margin at +8.0 per game.
Individually, Johnson remains the Golden Rams' leading scorer, averaging 15.1 points per game as the first of four Golden Rams averaging double figures on the season. The graduate student guard finished just one assist and two rebounds shy of a triple-double on Saturday afternoon, which, had she accomplished it, would have been her second of 2023 (Johnson also recorded a triple-double on 1/4/23 vs. Mansfield) and would have made her the first player in team history to record two or more triple-doubles in her career. The veteran guard also leads the team in assists and steals, averaging 5.1 helpers and 2.0 thefts per game, helping to lead the Golden Rams on both ends of the floor. McAteer is a close second in scoring, averaging 14.1 points per game, and leading the team in rebounding, averaging 7.4 rebounds per game.
Scouting Cal
Cal enters play in a somewhat similar position to that of the Golden Rams as the Vulcans look to turn things around following a disappointing end to the 2023 half of the season. The Vulcans currently find themselves amid a two-game losing streak, falling to PSAC East leader Lock Haven on December 19 before falling on the road at Mansfield on December 30. On Saturday afternoon at Mansfield, Allycia Harris led the team in scoring, finishing with a season-high 22 points and 10 rebounds, but was the only starter to score in double figures in a 65-54 setback against the Mounties. The visitors led after the first quarter and trailed by only three heading into the fourth but were outscored 19-11 in the fourth quarter, shooting just 22.7 % (5-of-22) from the field in the final 10 minutes of basketball. A solid three-point shooting team in years gone by, Cal struggled from deep on Saturday afternoon, going 0-for-13 from distance in the 11-point setback.
For the year, Cal enters play averaging 67.2 points per game, shooting 39.6 % from the field and 29.2 % from beyond the arc, while also averaging 41.5 rebounds per game, which ranks third best in the PSAC. Against the Vulcan defense, opponents are averaging just over 61 (61.2) points per game on 37.4 % shooting from the field and 29.1 % from three-point range. Iyahnna Williams, the other Vulcan in double figures on Saturday afternoon, is the lone Cal player averaging in double figures so far this season, averaging 11.1 points per game. At the same time, Harris is second, averaging 9.9 points per game. Harris also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 8.6 rebounds per game, while Dejah Terrell averages 9.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action on Saturday, January 6, at Lock Haven for its first PSAC East game of the year at the Bald Eagles, with the opening tip in that contest set for 1 p.m. West Chester will return home on January 10 for its first home game of 2024, welcoming Shepherd for a 5:30 p.m. start.
