WEST CHESTER, Pa.-As the final days of February, draw closer, the West Chester University women's basketball team (19-5, 14-4) is looking to put the finishing touches on another outstanding regular season and its NCAA Tournament resume with its penultimate home game of the regular season on Wednesday night against Shippensburg (5-20, 4-15) beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Following its victory over Kutztown last Wednesday night, which gave the Golden Rams their first regular season sweep of the Golden Bears since 2017-18, West Chester is comfortably in the driver's seat for one of the top two seeds and a first-round bye when the PSAC Tournament gets underway during the first full week of March. On Wednesday night, West Chester will look for its first home victory over Shippensburg since 2019-20 and its first season sweep of the Raiders since the 2017-18 season.
SERIES INFORMATION
West Chester holds a 37-31 lead in the all-time series against Shippensburg, including wins in each of the last two meetings, both of which came in Heiges Field House. When the two teams met in Hollinger last January, Shippensburg emerged victorious by an 83-70 final and remains the last team to beat West Chester at home. Since that setback, West Chester has won 21 straight in Hollinger Field House, which serves as a new program record for the longest home winning streak in team history, while also remaining the seventh-longest active streak in Division II women's basketball.
FLOCK TALK
At the end of a season, wins all count the same in the final standings with little regard to the attractiveness of how they were earned. This fact rang true last Wednesday night at home against Kutztown as West Chester won its 11th in a row and 21st consecutive at home with a 46-39 victory over Kutztown. Despite leading by as many as 17 late in the third quarter after a 13-0 run, which seemed to put the game away, it wasn't always pretty for West Chester a week ago as the team had to survive an 11-0 run by Kutztown late in the fourth quarter to earn a 46-39 victory. West Chester scored a season-low 46 points, including 22 in the second half on 34.0 % shooting from the field, including a 3-of-15 effort from three-point range.
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua) led the way for West Chester in the victory, finishing with a game-high 13 points and 12 rebounds as one of three Golden Rams in double figures.
Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds, while
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) added 10 points, seven assists, and six rebounds as she continues to leave her mark in the WCU women's basketball record book.
While the Golden Rams' three-point shooting percentage has dropped slightly this year, West Chester has continued to dominate inside, outscoring opponents 772-446 for in the paint and outscoring their foes inside in every game but one so far this season. The efforts of McAteer have been a big part of this inside success as the senior forward has led the team in scoring in nine of 12 in PSAC East play, averaging 19.3 points per game during this stretch while averaging 17.3 points per game on the year, which is fourth best in the league.
Johnson, who saw her streak of three consecutive PSAC East Athlete of the Week awards halted this week, continues to preside over the PSAC and Atlantic Region as one of the top guards in both. Ranking second on the team in scoring, averaging 15.1 points per game as the Golden Rams all-time leading scorer, Johnson also leads the team, league, and region in assists, averaging 6.0 per game, which is also sixth-best in Division II women's basketball.
SCOUTING SHIPPENSBURG
Always a formidable opponent, Shippensburg enters play looking to continue its strides in the right direction down the home stretch of the 2023-24 season. After being one of the top teams in the PSAC East a year ago, Shippensburg is in the midst of a rebuilding season of sorts, replenishing its roster from a large and tremendously experienced graduating class, headlined by WBCA All-American Ariel Jones a year ago. Shippensburg has won two of its last three, including a win over Kutztown on February 10 and a 55-45 Senior Day victory over East Stroudsburg last Saturday afternoon. In the 10-point win over Kutztown, Treasure George led the team in scoring with 16 points and became the latest Raider to join the 1,000-point club along the way. Abbie Miller was the other Raider in double figures on Saturday afternoon, finishing with 15 points and team-highs in rebounding (8), steals (4), and blocks (2). Shippensburg shot 29.8 % from the field for the game, including 30.0 % in a decisive first quarter, which saw the hosts outscore their guests 12-2 to take an early lead they would never fully relinquish.
Averaging 55.0 points per game, Shippensburg enters play, shooting 34.4 % from the field and 27.0 % from three-point range while also shooting 70.2 % from the line. In contrast to the Golden Rams, the Raiders have not had the chance to benefit from extra possessions much this season, entering play with a -2.2 (37.7-35.5) rebounding margin and a -1.2 (17.4-16.2) turnover margin on the year.
George leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.0 points per game, while also leading the team in steals, averaging 1.1 steals per game. George also ranks second on the team in rebounding (4.0/g) and assists (2.2/g), while Miller is first in rebounding, averaging 5.8 rebounds per game.
UP NEXT:
West Chester will take to the road for the final two games of February, visiting Mansfield on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tip before heading to Millersville on Wednesday, February 28, for a 5:30 p.m. start. West Chester will return home on Saturday, March 2, for a Senior Day/Pink Zone doubleheader presented by Barnaby's of West Chester beginning at 1 p.m.
