WEST CHESTER, Pa.- After capturing its 10th win in a row on Saturday afternoon at East Stroudsburg, the West Chester University women's basketball team (18-5, 13-4) returns home on Wednesday night to begin its final multi-game homestand of the regular season as Kutztown (12-11, 10-7) visits Hollinger Field House for a Valentine's Day Night clash presented by McDonald's beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday night is the first of two straight at home for the Golden Rams as the team will return to action next Wednesday night against Shippensburg beginning at 5:30 before embarking on its final road trip of the regular season with visits to Mansfield and Millersville. Including Wednesday night, West Chester has three home games remaining as the team will host Shippensburg on February 21 and Bloomsburg on March 2 on what will also be Senior Day for the Golden Rams.
Prior to Wednesday night's game, West Chester is set to honor graduate student guard
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) for breaking the WCU career scoring record in the victory over Shepherd last Wednesday night.
SERIES INFORMATION
Currently riding the longest winning streak in the PSAC and the 10th longest in Division II women's basketball at 10 in a row, the West Chester University women's basketball team returns to action against Kutztown in its first home game since Saturday, February 3, against Lock Haven. West Chester has not lost since a January 6 setback at Lock Haven, and the Golden Rams exacted revenge for this loss with a 58-49 victory over the Bald Eagles earlier this month. Holding a 48-37 lead in the all-time series against Kutztown after defeating the Golden Bears on the road earlier this season for the first time since the 2017-18 season, West Chester looks for its first sweep of Kutztown since 2017-18, while also looking for its 21st consecutive win at home. West Chester has not lost in front of its home crowd since early January 2023, rattling off a program-record-tying 20 in a row at home, which ranks eighth best in Division II women's basketball. The last time West Chester won 20 in a row inside Hollinger Field House was between the 1995-96 and 96-97 seasons.
FLOCK TALK
West Chester extended its winning streak in impressive fashion a week ago, posting a 77-66 victory over Shepherd in a game in which the Golden Rams never trailed before rolling to a 61-42 win over ESU after leading by as many as 29 midway through the fourth quarter on Saturday afternoon. On Saturday, ESU got out to an early lead, scoring the first four points of the game, but West Chester ensured its deficit would be short-lived, answering quickly and heading into the second with an 18-7 lead, outscoring the Warriors 18-3 the remainder of the quarter. Led by 21 points from its leading scorer
Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) and 14 more from new career-scoring leader Johnson, West Chester never looked back from this point, leading by as many as 29 with 5:48 to play in the fourth on the way to a comfortable 61-42 victory. West Chester shot 44.6 % (25-of-56) from the field and connected on 5-of-12 (41.7 %) from beyond the arc in the victory while also ending the game with a 36-27 lead in rebounding and a corresponding 14-12 lead in second-chance points.
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) was the third and final Golden Ram in double figures, finishing with 13 on 4-of-6 shooting in the victory.
Johnson, who recently earned PSAC East Athlete of the Week honors for the third week in a row, has teamed with McAteer to be one of the most potent one-two punches in the league as the duo average 15.3 and 17.6 points per game, respectively. McAteer ranks fourth in the league in scoring, while Johnson leads the league and ranks seventh in DII in assists, averaging 5.9 helpers per game.
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua) is third on the team in scoring, averaging 10.3 points per game while leading the squad in rebounding, averaging 7.0 rebounds per game. Kozicki has scored in double figures 13 times this season, which is fourth best, trailing Johnson, McAteer, and McTamney. With her 13-point effort at ESU, McTamney scored in double figures for the 14
th time this season, seventh time in East play, and third game in a row, including a 14-point/10-rebound double-double vs Lock Haven on February 3.
Briana Seltzer (Reading, Pa./Reading) and
Erin Daley (Lafayette Hill, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) have been two of the first players off the bench for West Chester for much of this season, providing valuable minutes while also chipping in offensively, averaging 3.8 and 2.8 points per game, respectively.
For the year, West Chester remains among the league leaders in both scoring and points allowed, ranking second in the PSAC in scoring, averaging 73.0 points per game, while also ranking second in points allowed, limiting teams to just 54.7 per game, which is 14th best in Division II. Shooting 43.4 % from the field, West Chester has done much of its damage inside, outscoring opponents 754-432 in the paint this season. West Chester has been outscored in the paint only once this season, as PSAC-West leader Gannon outscored the Golden Rams 38-30 in mid-December.
SCOUTING KUTZTOWN
Always a formidable opponent, Kutztown enters play with the third-best record in the PSAC East at 12-11 on the year overall and 10-7 in East play despite dropping two in a row. Most recently, Kutztown traveled to and fell to Shippensburg on Saturday afternoon, falling victim to a big second-half comeback, which saw the Raiders outscore the Golden Bears 46-28 to erase a nine-point halftime deficit and earn the 66-57 victory. Sydney Pierson led Kutztown in scoring in the setback, finishing with 15 points, while Olivia Smelas came away with 13 rebounds and five helpers. As a team, Kutztown shot just 34.6 % from the field and 24.0 % (6-of-25) from deep in the loss, while Shippensburg shot just slightly better, shooting 40.4 % (21-of-52) from the field and 35.3 % (6-of-17) from three-point range.
Naia Pulliam leads Kutztown in scoring so far this season, averaging 14.0 points per game to lead a Kutztown offense that averages 61.0 points per game as a unit. Smelas leads the team in rebounding (7.1/g) and steals (1.7/g), while Zara Zerman leads the group in assists, averaging 2.4 helpers per game.
As a team, Kutztown averages 61.0 points per game while holding its foes to just under 57 (56.9) per game. The Golden Bears have a field goal percentage of 37.8 % on the year, including a 31.6 % effort from deep, while their opponents shoot 34.8 % from the field and 31.1 % from range. Longtime head coach Janet Malouf's charges have not had the opportunity to benefit much from extra possessions so far this season, trailing in both rebounding (-0.9; 37.3-36.4) and turnover (-0.8; 17.9-17.1) margin on the year despite the best efforts of the sophomore center Smelas.
UP NEXT
Tonight is the first of a two-game homestand for West Chester as the Golden Rams welcome Shippensburg to Hollinger next Wednesday night at 5:30. West Chester will conclude February with its final road trip of the season, visiting Mansfield and Millersville on the 24th and 28th before hosting Bloomsburg on Senior Day on Saturday, March 2.
