MANSFIELD, Pa.- After notching its 12
th win in a row and first sweep of Shippensburg since 2017-18 on Wednesday night, the West Chester University women's basketball team (20-5, 15-4) has shifted its collective attention to its next foe in Mansfield (11-14, 6-12) on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday's contest will mark the first of two straight away from home for West Chester and is also the Golden Rams final road trip of the 2023-24 regular season. West Chester is slated to visit Millersville next Wednesday night for its last road game of the year before hosting Bloomsburg on Saturday, March 2, on Senior Day.
West Chester has assured itself a top-two seed in the PSAC Tournament and has earned a First Round bye along with the right to host a PSAC Quarterfinal on Wednesday, March 6.
SERIES INFORMATION
West Chester returns to the road on Saturday for the first of two straight away from home for the final two road games of the regular season. West Chester holds a 67-11 lead in the all-time series against Mansfield, winning each of the last four, including an 87-57 victory in Hollinger earlier this season. West Chester held a slim 16-12 lead at the end of the first quarter but extended its lead with a 23-8 second-quarter performance en route to the 30-point victory.
Leah Johnson made further history in this victory, recording her second career triple-double, becoming the first Golden Ram in team history to record multiple triple-doubles in her career.
FLOCK TALK
West Chester carried a 12-7 lead into the second quarter, but it was a 10-0 run midway through the third quarter, which helped West Chester erase a halftime deficit for the first time all season to post a 64-59 victory over Shippensburg on Wednesday night. West Chester trailed for under five minutes on Wednesday but found itself in a bit of trouble coming out of the halftime break, trailing by one before seeing the deficit grow to five with a cold-shooting start to the second half. West Chester got it in gear quickly and wound up outscoring Shippensburg 18-14 in the third and 19-17 in the fourth to earn the comeback victory.
Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) led all scorers with 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting, while
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) finished with a double-double, scoring 15 points to go along with 11 assists for the Golden Rams 12th straight victory.
Briana Seltzer (Reading, Pa./Reading) has been key off the bench for West Chester this season and this was very evident on Wednesday night as the senior stepped up and contributed a vital eight points along with three rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists to help West Chester earn a crucial victory. Following this effort, Seltzer is now averaging 4.0 points and 2.5 assists per game on the year. Johnson's 15-point effort helped the Golden Rams newest career-leading scorer extend her streak of double-digit performances, scoring in double figures in every game this season as the lone player on the roster to do so. The graduate student guard also ranks fifth in Division II in assists, averaging 6.2 per game, while ranking third in rebounding, averaging 5.3 per game as well. McAteer continues her push toward her 1,000
th career point at WCU as the veteran forward has led the team in scoring on 10-of-13 PSAC East games, averaging 21.2 points per game after her 23-point effort on Wednesday night.
As a team, West Chester has been and remains one of the top offensive units in the PSAC, averaging 71.6 points per game, which is third in the PSAC and first in the PSAC East, while also limiting opponents to 54.3 points per game, which is second best in the PSAC and first in the East as well. This effort has helped West Chester win each of its last 12 in a row, halting a two-game losing streak, which saw the team fall to Cal (Pa.) and Lock Haven to begin January, while also extending its home winning streak to a stellar 22 games in a row. West Chester currently has the ninth-longest winning streak in DII women's basketball and the seventh-longest home winning streak in DII while also leading the PSAC with both streaks.
West Chester appeared in the first DII Atlantic Regional rankings of the year on Wednesday afternoon as they were released near the midway point of the Golden Rams mid-week battle with Shippensburg. The first rankings released by the Division II women's basketball committee are alphabetical, listing only teams under consideration for future ranking, while the remaining two rankings, due to be released on February 28 and March 6, will be in numbered rank order.
SCOUTING MANSFIELD
Mansfield enters off back-to-back losses, including a setback at PSAC East leader Lock Haven on Wednesday night. The Mounties, led by 20 points from Jasmine Hilton, led by one after the first quarter and outscored the Bald Eagles by seven in the fourth but found themselves on the wrong end of a 61-22 run by LHU during the second and third quarters in an 85-54 loss. Mansfield shot 32.2 % (19-of-59) from the field in the loss, including a 31.3 % effort from deep, while committing 23 turnovers in a difficult night against the high-flying Bald Eagles.
As a team, Mansfield enters play with a record of 11-14 on the season, averaging 65.5 points per game on 39.5 % shooting from the field and a 29.4 % effort from three-point territory. Mansfield also shoots 64.1 % at the free throw line and outrebounds its foes by a 40.2-38.4 margin. Hilton and Kristen Fulford are the two primary weapons for Mansfield in 2023-24, as Hilton leads the team in scoring (15.8/g) and rebounding (8.6/g), while Fulford averages 9.0 points and a team-best 3.0 assists per game. Fulford is also tied with Katie Sheeler, who ranks second on the team in scoring, averaging 9.9 per game for first on the team in steals, coming away with an average of 1.5 per game.
UP NEXT:
Following Saturday's game, West Chester will embark on its final week of the regular season with a visit to Millersville on Wednesday night before welcoming Bloomsburg back to Hollinger Field House for the regular season home finale and Senior Day against the Huskies.
