PHILADELPHIA- Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) scored a game-high 22 points to reach the 1,000-point plateau for her collegiate career, but it was not enough to help the West Chester University women's basketball team (0-3) earn its first win of the young season in a 70-54 setback at Holy Family (3-0) on Thursday night.
West Chester suffered a cold start to the game offensively, finding itself down 15 before the end of the first quarter. Although the Golden Rams stayed much closer to their hosts down the stretch, being outscored by just five points (51-46) over the next three quarters, it was not enough to erase the early deficit.
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua) was the lone other Golden Ram in double figures in the loss, finishing with 15 points, while
Erin Daley (Lafayette Hill, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) chipped in eight of her own. McTamney remains in search of her 1,000th-career point as a Golden Ram as tonight's milestone, included her 199 points from her rookie season at the now closed University of the Sciences.
Holy Family raced out to an early 9-0 lead, connecting on 3-of-5 from the field and forcing four turnovers to force an early Golden Ram timeout. The Tigers continued their dominant first quarter, extending the lead to 15-0 before a three-point play by McTamney with 3:30 to play cut the deficit to 15-3. This sparked a modest 6-0 run for West Chester, which saw the Golden Rams cut the deficit to 15-6, and despite ample opportunities to further cut into the lead, West Chester struggled to find its footing offensively early, sending the game into the second with Holy Family holding a 19-8 lead.
West Chester and Holy Family traded baskets in the early part of the second quarter, but the host Tigers carried a 38-20 lead into the halftime break despite a late three by McTamney, which gave the senior guard 11 first-half points.
West Chester opened the third quarter on a 9-2 run, which cut the deficit to 40-29 with 7:11 to play, but Holy Family answered with an 11-4 run to help restore a 53-36 lead heading into the fourth.
The Golden Rams opened the fourth on a 5-0 run, including a three-point play by McTamney, which moved her to within two points of her 1000
th career point, prompting a quick HFU timeout. McTamney picked up her 1000
th career point just moments later as West Chester continued to try to cut into the deficit, trimming the game to 56-45 with 6:27 to play in the fourth. West Chester had the deficit down to 11 throughout much of the fourth quarter, but a late Holy Family run gave the Tigers a comfortable 70-54 victory over the Golden Rams.
West Chester shot just 15.4 % (2-for-13) from the field in the first quarter but ended the game shooting 31.6 % (18-of-57) from the field, 21.4 % (3-of-14) from three-point range, and 88.7 % (15-of-17) from the line.
Taylor Hinkle finished with another double-double for Holy Family, scoring a team-high 15 points to go along with 13 rebounds as she helped Holy Family end the game with a 42-32lead in rebounding. Skyler Searfoss was the lone other player in double figures on Wednesday night as she finished with 14 points on a perfect 3-for-3 shooting performance from the field, including two makes from three-point range, while also going 6-for-8 at the line.
Holy Family ended the game shooting 38.5 % (20-of-52) from the field and 26.9 % (7-of-26) from three-point range while also making 23-of-30 (76.7 %) at the free throw line.
Despite being outrebounded by 10, West Chester ended the game with a 17-9 lead in second-chance points and a 24-22 lead in points in the paint. The Holy Family bench made a significant impact on Thursday night, outscoring the Golden Rams second unit by a gaping 27-3 margin
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action on Monday night when it plays its home opener against Wilmington, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in Hollinger Field House.
