Women's Basketball Set to Open 2024-25 Campaign at MEC/PSAC Challenge vs West Virginia State, Charleston

CHARLESTON, W.V.- Following its second consecutive 24-win season and first back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2015 and 2016 seasons, the West Chester University women’s basketball team is hungry for more in 2024-25 as the Golden Rams look to return to the PSAC and NCAA Tournaments once again in 2025. Head coach Kiera Wooden and the Golden Rams will get their 2024-25 campaign underway in West Virginia on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against West Virginia State before taking on Charleston (W.V.) at 2 p.m. on Sunday. 

Check out our preview interview with head coach Kiera Wooden here.

LAST TIME WE SAW THEM

In 2023-24, West Chester completed its second 24-win season (24-7, 18-4) in a row, again falling just shy of matching its program record of 25 wins from the 1992 (25-5) campaign. The Golden Rams 24 wins were enough to help them return to the PSAC Tournament Semifinals and the NCAA Tournament for the second time in as many years. This also marks just the second time in program history that the Golden Rams have appeared in the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back years, with the previous occurrence being in the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS

West Chester was picked to finish second in the PSAC East once again this season, trailing only Lock Haven, who won the East a year ago and garnered eight first-place votes as the favorites to repeat in 2024-25. Kutztown, Millersville, and East Stroudsburg rounded out the top five, while the Western Division saw Gannon, California, IUP, Edinboro, and Seton Hill make up its top five. Check out the full release here.

FLOCK TALK

The Golden Rams return two of their five starters, Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua) and Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) from a year ago. After graduating its top two scorers, Leah Johnson and Emily McAteer, they will need to replace 1,430 of its 2,210 points from a year ago. Kozicki and McTamney are two-time All-League selections and enter the 2024-25 season after completing two 300+ point seasons in their first two campaigns as Golden Rams. Both transfers from La Salle and the University of the Sciences, respectively, enter the season well within striking distance of their 1,000th collegiate points and 1000th points as Golden Rams.

In addition to her two All-League citations, Kozicki, who led the team in rebounding last year, averaging 7.5 per game, was named the 2023 PSAC East Defensive Player of the Year. She became the first Golden Ram to receive this honor since Alexandra Lennon in 2013.

The defense will likely need to be a calling card for West Chester this season as the Golden Rams will trot out a different-looking starting five than what fans may have grown accustomed to seeing in recent years. Defense has been an area of strength for West Chester over the years, and the 2023-24 season was no different as the Purple and Gold ended the season ranked 10th in scoring margin and 12th in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 55.3 points per game and outscoring them by an average of 16.0 points per game.

Kozicki and McTamney both averaged north of 10 points per game a year ago, averaging 10.7 and 10.6 per game, while Kozicki also led the team in rebounding, averaging 7.5 rebounds per game with 4.2 per contest from McTamney. McTamney returns as the teams top free-throw shooter from a year ago, shooting 81.1 % from the stripe, which is first among qualifying players. Kozicki also led the team in assists, averaging 2.0 helpers per game in her junior season.

In addition to the return of Kozicki and McTamney, who are the lone two returning starters, West Chester also welcomes back Kyla Glasser-Hyman (Inzai Chiba, Japan/Hightstown), Alainna Hopta (York, Pa./West York), Erin Daley (Lafayette Hill, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh), Sofia Coleman (Dresher, Pa./Gwynedd Mercy Academy), and Rachel Conran (Springfield, Pa./Springfield). Of this group, Daley and Coleman saw the most time a year ago, being some of the first options off the bench for West Chester, with Daley entering as a forward reserve for McAteer or Kozicki, while Conran entered for her three-point shooting abilities from a guard spot. Daley averaged 2.2 points and 2.4 rebounds per game last year. Conran averaged 1.8 points and 1.1 rebounds per game, including a 12-point effort on perfect 4-for-4 shooting from three-point land in a January 27 win over Mansfield. 

WHAT’S NEW

West Chester welcomes four newcomers this year in twins Ava Mazur (Linwood, N.J./Mainland Regional) and Bella Mazur (Linwood, N.J./Mainland Regional) along with Sanai Moore (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) and Aaliyah Soliday (Upper Providence, Pa./Spring-Ford). 

THE SLATE

West Chester will open its season in Southern West Virginia for the second time in three years (after venturing to Institute, West Virginia, to begin the 2022-23 campaign), this time competing in the Capital City against WVSU and host Charleston on Saturday and Sunday evenings. After this, West Chester will return north for another road test at Holy Family on November 14 before hosting Wilmington on November 18. The Golden Rams visit to Hollinger on the 18th will be their last time home until a December 1 meeting against Jefferson begins a three-game homestand for the Golden Rams, including matchups vs California (Pa.) and IUP in the year's third and fourth crossover games. West Chester will open PSAC Crossover play on November 22 and 23 at Slippery Rock and Edinboro beginning at 1 and 3 p.m., respectively. 

After meeting with Cal and IUP, West Chester will visit Chestnut Hill on December 15 for what would typically be its non-league finale.  In a strange twist as a result of Mercyhurst jumping to the Division I ranks in the offseason, West Chester’s game at Pitt-Johnstown on December 17 will be the Golden Rams final non-league game of the season as it will not count in the conference standings for West Chester in an effort to balance the Eastern Division Crossover schedules. West Chester wraps up the 2024 half of its schedule on December 21 against Seton Hill beginning at 1 p.m. and will open PSAC East play on January 3 at Shepherd. The Golden Rams have Alumni Day scheduled for January 11 against Kutztown beginning at 2 p.m., and Senior Day is currently set for February 8 vs Mansfield.

HONORING THE LEGENDS

Fans will notice a new court design for the 2024-25 season as West Chester completed a refinishing of the Hollinger Field House floor over the Summer to make it now bear the name of legendary basketball coaches Dick DeLaney and Deirdre Kane. Kane-DeLaney Court, as the floor shall henceforth be known, was formally unveiled to the Community in mid-September at a special ceremony after the project was announced during a doubleheader against East Stroudsburg last January. Read more about the project here.

KEEP THE STREAK

West Chester completed an unbeaten regular season at home last March and is currently riding a 24-game home winning streak, which dates back to January 11, 2023, when the team fell to Shippensburg at home by an 83-70 final. The Golden Rams 24-game home winning streak is the third longest active streak in Division II women's basketball, trailing only Harding (26) and Tampa (27).

HOSTETTER’S HONOR

While West Chester tangles with Charleston on Saturday night, longtime assistant coach and former guard Allison Hostetter ’12 will miss her induction into the Chester County Sports Hall of Fame. Hostetter, who will be in her usual position alongside Wooden on the Golden Rams bench, is one of 10 inductees in the Chester County Sports Hall of Fame class of 2024, which will be honored on Saturday night in Unionville. Read more on Hostetter’s upcoming induction here.

THE OPENING WEEKEND

When West Chester last opened its season in West Virginia, the Golden Rams went 0-2 on their trip, falling to defending National Champion, Glenville State by a 104-78 final before losing to West Virginia State by a 107-102 final in its first 100-point game since the 2017-18 season. This weekend, West Chester will begin its season on Friday night against that same WVSU squad at 7:30 p.m. before concluding its weekend with a 2 p.m. tilt against host Charleston on Sunday afternoon.

Against WVSU, West Chester is 0-1, with the lone prior meeting coming in 2022-23. In that matchup, Johnson scored 38 points and tied Patti Gruber’s 1990 performance for what at the time was the second-most (now third-most) points in a regular-season game on 17-of-22 shooting from the field. 

Picked to finish third in the Mountain East preseason poll, WVSU returns some critical pieces from a year ago, including senior guard ZZ Russell, who finished third on the team last year third in scoring, averaging 9.9 points, along with forward Emyah Fortenberry, who finished last year averaging 7.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game in 32 games with 18 starts. Similar to the Golden Rams, the Yellow Jackets (21-11, 14-6), who under ninth-year head coach Charles Marshall, saw their 2023-24 season end in the NCAA Tournament with a 73-53 loss to Gannon after also falling to Fairmont State in the Conference Championship game by an 81-67 final. 

On Sunday, West Chester will play what is believed to be just the third meeting all-time between the Golden Rams and Golden Eagles, with both sides looking to improve to 2-1. West Chester dropped the first meeting against Charleston in November 2005 but emerged victorious in the NCAA Tournament in 2023 by a 73-60 final to send the Golden Rams through to the Regional Final for the first time in program history. McTamney and Kozicki led West Chester in this victory, finishing with 20 points and 11 rebounds and 15 points and 10 rebounds, respectively. 

Under the tutelage of first-year head coach Bubby Johnson, who was an assistant at Charleston before departing for an assistant coach position at Division I Presbyterian College, where he helped lead the Blue Hose to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2024, Charleston was picked to finish fourth in the MEC Preseason Coaches poll. Charleston returns three of its five starters from last year, led by Taylor Austin, who finished last year third on the team in scoring, averaging 10.9 points per game, while leading the group in assists, averaging 3.5 per game, along with 4.6 rebounds per game. 

UP NEXT

West Chester will open its campaign away from home for the second time in the last three seasons. This weekend, it will visit West Virginia to take on Charleston (W.V.) and West Virginia State. After its weekend in the Mountain State, West Chester will visit Holy Family on November 14 for a non-league tilt against the Tigers before hosting Wilmington on November 18 in its first home game of 2024.