MANSFIELD, Pa.- Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) led all scorers with 27 points on 11-of-21 shooting to go along with 12 rebounds to help lead the West Chester University women's basketball team (21-5, 16-4) to a 78-56 victory over Mansfield (11-15, 6-13) on Saturday afternoon.
McAteer led the team in scoring for the 11
th time in PSAC East play as the veteran forward has been one of the top players in the league since early January when Divisional play got underway. McAteer was one of four Golden Rams to score in double figures in the victory as
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) scored 21, while
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua) and
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) came away with 11 and 10 each. McAteer also led the team in rebounding, finishing with 12 in the victory.
West Chester trailed only briefly on Saturday afternoon, finding itself down by five early in the first quarter, but a 9-0 run late in the frame helped West Chester carry an 18-14 lead into the second. West Chester never trailed again from this point, erasing the first-quarter deficit and stretching the lead to as many as 23 with just under three minutes to play in regulation en route to the 22-point road victory.
West Chester found itself on the wrong end of a 14-9 run to open the game but closed the first quarter well, scoring the last nine points to take an 18-14 lead after 10 minutes. Mansfield kept things close through the early part of the second, trailing by just two (29-27) with under six minutes to play in the half after a made three by Jasmine Hilton but a 12-2 run by West Chester, led by seven from McAteer and five from Johnson gave the visiting Golden Rams a comfortable 41-29 lead with just one minute to play until halftime. The Mounties scored the final points of the first half at the free throw line as they cut the Golden Ram lead to 41-32 heading into the half.
West Chester opened the third quarter on an 11-4 run, spurred by five early points from Kozicki, and the Golden Rams never looked back from this point, outscoring Mansfield 15-7 in the frame and 37-24 in the second half to earn their 13th victory in as many tries.
Jasmine Hilton led the way for Mansfield, scoring 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting while also collecting a team-best eight rebounds in the loss. Hilton was one of two Mounties in double figures on Saturday as Emilie Leidig finished with 11 of her own in the setback.
West Chester shot 44.3 % (31-of-70) from the field in the victory, including a pair of efforts, which saw the team shoot north of 50.0 % for a quarter (2
nd quarter-50.0 % (9-of-18); 4th quarter-69.2 % (9-of-13)). West Chester also connected on 47.4 % (9-of-19) of its attempts from three-point range, hitting five in the first half and four more in the second half to win. The Golden Rams also shot 70.0 % (7-of-10) from the line on Saturday afternoon.
For Mansfield, the Mounties shot 38.8 % (19-of-49) from the field, including a 37.0 % (10-of-27) effort from three-point range, while also shooting just 66.7 % (8-of-12) from the stripe.
West Chester outrebounded its hosts by a 41-29 margin, including an 18-7 lead on the offensive glass, translating into a 16-7 lead in second-chance points. West Chester also ended the game with a +8 (21-13) lead in the turnover battle, outscoring Mansfield 22-14 in points off turnovers and 34-12 in the paint.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action on Wednesday night at Millersville for its final regular season road game, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
