MILLERSVILLE, Pa.- Currently on a 13-game winning streak, the West Chester University women's basketball team (21-5, 16-4) heads out on the road on Wednesday night for its final road game of the regular season as the Golden Rams visit Millersville (12-14, 10-10) beginning at 5:30 p.m.
With the results of this past weekend, West Chester is locked in as the No. 2 seed in the PSAC Tournament, which gives the Golden Rams a First Round bye and the right to host a home quarterfinal next Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Fans interested in purchasing tickets for this Quarterfinal matchup in Hollinger must purchase them via this
link. Millersville is also locked in the PSAC Tournament; however, the Marauders are still fighting for their seed, currently battling with Kutztown for the third or fourth seed in the PSAC Tournament. Either way, Millersville will likely host a first-round game on Monday, March 4, and with a win, will visit either Lock Haven or West Chester for the quarterfinals, depending on its seed. As the second seed, West Chester will host the winner of the 3/6 game on Wednesday night, while Lock Haven will host the 4/5 winner.
SERIES INFORMATION
West Chester heads out on the road for the final time this regular season tonight with a visit to local rival Millersville. Winners of each of the last seven, West Chester, holds a 51-47 lead in the all-time series against the Marauders dating back to the first meeting in 1969. West Chester has won 9-of-10 against Millersville and lost to the Marauders just twice under the tutelage of head coach
Kiera Wooden. The last time they met, West Chester posted a 73-45 victory after the second of back-to-back triple-doubles by
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame), as she is now just one of two players in DII with multiple triple-doubles this season.
FLOCK TALK
West Chester trailed early but closed the first quarter on a 9-0 run and never looked back en route to a 78-56 victory over Mansfield on Saturday afternoon. Leading by four at the end of the first quarter, West Chester extended its lead to nine heading into the half and stretched the advantage to as many as 23 late in the fourth quarter to earn its 13th victory in a row. Led by 27 points from
Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) and 21 from Johnson, West Chester shot a solid 44.3 % from the field and 47.4 % from beyond the arc, led by a fourth-quarter performance, which saw WCU shoot 69.2 % (9-of-13) from the field and 66.7 % (2-of-3) from beyond the arc. Johnson and McAteer were two of four Golden Rams in double figures in the victory as
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua) chipped in 11 to go along with 10 from
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh). West Chester ended the game with a 41-29 lead in rebounding and a 16-7 lead in second-chance points while also outscoring Mansfield 34-12 in the paint and 22-14 in points off turnovers.
McAteer, the reigning PSAC East Athlete of the Week, averaged 25.0 points over the course of a pair of victories a week ago and now ranks third in the PSAC in scoring, averaging 17.9 points per game thanks in large part to a stellar run in PSAC East play, which has seen the veteran forward, average 21.6 points per game in East play, scoring north of 20 points in nine of 14 games in East play. This stellar run has also helped McAteer pull within 20 points (19) from scoring her 1,000
th career point as a Golden Ram. McAteer, a Loyola (Md.) transfer, eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau earlier this season and currently has scored 1,334 points in her collegiate career between her tenure with the Greyhounds and the Golden Rams.
Johnson remains second on the team in scoring, averaging 15.3 points per game, while also leading the group and PSAC in assists, averaging 6.1 per game. After this past weekend, Johnson is now one of two players in Division II to record two triple-doubles in the same season after Laney Beale of Wingate accomplished the feat and ranks fifth in DII in assists.
As a team, West Chester remains among the Division II leaders defensively and in scoring margin, entering play in 10
th in DII in margin, averaging a +17.5 point per game advantage as the Golden Rams limit opponents to just 54.3 points per game, which is also 10
th in DII. Offensively, West Chester enters Wednesday night averaging 71.8 points per game, which ranks second in the PSAC as well.
SCOUTING MILLERSVILLE
Millersville enters play riding a four-game winning streak after posting a 53-34 Senior Day victory over East Stroudsburg on Saturday afternoon. Millersville got out to an eight-point lead after the first quarter and saw its advantage trimmed to six heading into the fourth. In the fourth, the Marauders put the game away, outscoring the Warriors 15-2 in the frame, shooting 53.8 % from the field while holding ESU to just 8.3 %. Neither side connected from three-point range on Saturday as both teams were 0-for-8 from distance, while Millersville shot 34.8 % (23-of-66) from the field and ESU shot 23.3 % (14-of-60) from the field. PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Week Makiah Shaw led Millersville in scoring (16), rebounding (70 and blocks (2) in the victory, while Jabria Ingram led the team in assists (5) and steals (3).
Millersville enters with a record of 12-14 for the year after its recent four-game winning streak, averaging 59.1 points per game on 39.9 % shooting from the field and 23.6 % from three-point territory. The Marauders do hold a slight 36.9-36.5 lead in the rebounding battle. However, they trail in turnover margin, averaging 17.7 turnovers per game while forcing just 16.1. Shaw leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.0 points per game, while La'Shyra Williams is second on the team, averaging 9.3 points per game. Brenna Ortwein leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.0 per game, while trailing Ingram in assists, averaging 2.3, while Ingram averages 4.3 per game.
UP NEXT:
West Chester returns to action on Saturday for its regular-season finale against Bloomsburg on what will also be the Golden Rams Senior Day and annual Pink Zone game in Hollinger Field House beginning at 1 p.m.
