WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) led all scorers with 19 points to help lead the West Chester University women's basketball team (16-5, 11-4) to a 58-49 victory over first-place and 14
th-ranked Lock Haven (19-2, 14-1) on Saturday afternoon.
McAteer was one of four Golden Rams in double figures in the victory as
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) and
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua) who both recorded double-doubles with 14 points and 10 rebounds and 12 points and 11 rebounds, respectively.
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) was the final Golden Ram in double figures, finishing with 12 points, all of which came in the fourth quarter to help West Chester earn the comeback victory.
In a game that featured nine ties and nine lead changes, West Chester found itself behind on the scoreboard for much of the first half but took the game to halftime even at 18-18 in the team's lowest-scoring first half of the season. Out of the break, West Chester went to work retaking and eventually its lead, leading by three late in the third quarter before carrying a 33-32 lead into the fourth. West Chester went on an impressive 7-0 run in the fourth, featuring five from Johnson to take its first comfortable lead of the afternoon at 43-36. With a seven-point lead in hand, West Chester never saw its lead shrink below five again and extended it to as many as 10 at the free throw line with 55 seconds to play en route to the victory.
West Chester ignited its game-changing run with a 1-for-2 effort at the line by Johnson with 7:11 to play, which sparked something in the graduate student guard and the Golden Rams as she forced a steal and hit a fast break layup immediately after that trip to the stripe for her first field goal of the day. McAteer followed this up with a layup of her own just over 20 seconds later before Johnson hit another driving layup to give West Chester a 43-36 lead with 6:02 to play. This prompted a timeout by Lock Haven as the Bald Eagles attempted to halt the run, but five points was as close as Lock Haven would get as the Golden Rams closed out the victory.
Entering play tied for the longest active winning streak in Division II women's basketball, today was the Bald Eagles' first league loss of the year and their first since an opening night loss against Fairmont State at Seton Hill.
Lock Haven jumped out to an early 5-0 lead just under three minutes into regulation before the Golden Rams tied things back up at 5-5 with 5:49 to play in the first quarter. The two sides traded points for the remainder of the quarter as the Golden Rams shot just 25.0 % (4-of-16) from the field in the first quarter but found themselves within one (12-11) heading into the second.
Trailing after the first for just the fifth time this season, West Chester continued to trade stops with Lock Haven as the two combined for just 13 points in the quarter, sending the game to the half even at 18-18.
McAteer and McTamney tied for the game lead in scoring through 20 minutes with seven points each as West Chester shot 18.8 % (6-of-32) at the half, while Lock Haven shot 24.0 % (6-of-25).
Alana Robinson led Lock Haven in the first half, heading into the locker room with six points and a first-half high nine rebounds.
The third quarter was another relatively low-scoring affair. However, both teams did double their second-quarter scoring efforts as West Chester outscored Lock Haven 15-14 in the frame.
West Chester was much improved offensively in the second half, doubling its offensive output and shooting a game-best 46.7 % (7-of-15) from the field in the fourth quarter to exact revenge for a hard-fought road loss at Lock Haven earlier this season to open PSAC East play.
West Chester ended the game shooting 28.8 % (17-of-59) from the field, including a 31.3 % (5-of-16) effort from three-point range, while also shooting 65.5 (19-of-29) from the line in the victory.
Jenadia Jordan and Alana Robinson finished in double figures for Lock Haven, scoring 16 and 13 points each, while Robinson came away with a game-high 16 rebounds for a double-double of her own.
For its part, Lock Haven shot 30.9 % (17-of-55) from the field, including a 21.4 % (3-of-14) effort from beyond the arc, while also shooting 60.0 % (12-of-20) at the line in the setback.
West Chester ended the game with a 46-41 lead in rebounding, including a 16-13 lead on the offensive glass, which translated into a 17-15 lead in second-chance points. West Chester also ended the game with a 22-18 lead in points in the paint and a 16-10 lead in points off turnovers after winning the turnover battle by a 17-13 margin.
Notes:
Today's victory helps West Chester match its program record for most consecutive home wins as the team captured its 20
th straight home victory, tying the 1995-96 and 1996-97 Golden Rams, who rattled off 20 in a row between those two seasons.
Johnson's 12-point fourth-quarter performance, critical to West Chester earning the comeback victory, also moved the grad student guard to just nine away from tying the program record and 10 from breaking the record while also moving her past Dallas Ely for second on the scoring chart.
Up Next:
West Chester heads back on the road next week for a pair of games away from Hollinger as the Golden Rams visit Shepherd on Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. and East Stroudsburg on Saturday at 3 p.m.
