MILLERSVILLE, Pa.- Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) scored a game-high 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting to help lead the West Chester University women's basketball team (22-5, 17-4) to a 69-59 victory over Millersville (12-15, 10-11) on Wednesday night.
West Chester trailed by two at the half and found itself locked in a good one throughout the second half, but the Golden Rams outscored their hosts 22-17 in the and 24-17 in the fourth to complete a 69-59 victory comeback victory and extend their winning streak to 14 in a row. West Chester shot 52.9 % from the field in the third and 42.9 % in the fourth to earn the victory, shooting 39.0 % (23-of-59) for the game, including a 3-of-16 (18.8 %) effort from three-point range while also going 20-for-25 at the line, including an 11-for-12 effort in the fourth quarter.
The Golden Rams finished the night with four players in double figures as
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua) scored 16, while
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) added 11 to go along with 10 off the bench by
Briana Seltzer (Reading, Pa./Reading).
West Chester jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, but Millersville countered with a 5-0 run of its own to trim the Golden Ram advantage to 6-5 with 5:34 to play in the first quarter. The two sides traded makes from this point as West Chester carried a slim 13-11 lead into the second quarter.
Millersville opened the second quarter with a 10-5 run over the first five minutes of action to take a 21-18 lead over the visiting Golden Rams. As the game inched closer to halftime, West Chester and Millersville traded stops, but the host Marauders held a slim 25-23 lead over the visiting Golden Rams.
West Chester shot just 28.6 % (8-of-28) from the field and was offensively by eight points from
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame), while
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) finished the first half with five.
For Millersville, Jabria Ingram led the Marauders in scoring with seven points as the Marauders shot 37.9 % (11-of-29) from the field.
Out of the halftime break, West Chester outscored its hosts 13-8 through the first five-and-a-half minutes to take a 36-33 lead before carrying a 45-42 lead into the fourth after a pair of quick layups by Seltzer and Sophie Elstone.
West Chester opened the fourth on an 8-3 run to take a 53-45 lead with 6:35 to play in regulation. With perhaps its first comfortable lead of the night, West Chester maintained this advantage, leading 60-51 with just under three minutes to play. Millersville would not go away quietly, however, answering with a 6-0 run, which cut the West Chester lead to 60-57 with 1:17 to play.
Johnson was fouled and split a trip to the line, which extended the lead to 61-57, but Millersville continued its comeback bid, cutting the deficit to two (61-59) after a made jumper by Ingram, which gave her 17 points on the night. Kozicki went a perfect 2-for-2 at the line with 39 seconds to play, which gave West Chester a 63-59 lead and prompted a late Millersville timeout. Out of the timeout, Ingram took another jumper, but the shot was off the mark, and the rebound was controlled by Kozicki, giving West Chester possession back with 26 seconds to play.
McTamney went 2-for-2 at the line to hit 21 points on the night and give West Chester a 65-59 lead with 14 seconds to play. West Chester scored four more points at the line thanks to a pair of perfect
trips by Johnson and McAteer to earn a 69-59 victory over Millersville.
Ingram led Millersville in scoring, finishing with 17 points on 8-of-19 shooting from the field, while Makiah Shaw added 16 to go along with 12 from Elstone in the setback.
Millersville shot 43.1 % (25-of-58) from the field in its ill-fated comeback bid, including a 1-for-16 (16.7 %) effort from three-point range, while also going just 8-for-15 from the charity stripe, including a 6-of-8 effort in the second half.
West Chester ended the game with a slim 38-33 lead in rebounding, including a 7-6 advantage in offensive rebounding, which translated into a 12-7 lead in second-chance points. West Chester also finished the game with an 11-5 lead in points off the bench, led by 10 crucial points from Seltzer.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action on Saturday afternoon against Bloomsburg beginning at 1 p.m. on what will also be Senior Day for the Golden Rams.
