SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.V.- Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) scored a season-high 28 points, 10-of-22 shooting from the field and 8-of-9 from the line to not only help the West Chester University women's basketball team (17-5, 12-4) earn a 77-66 victory over Shepherd (6-15, 4-12) but also break the Golden Rams career scoring record in the process.
With just under three minutes to play in the first half, Johnson further etched her name into West Chester women's basketball lore as she drained a pull-up jumper to become the WCU women's basketball career scoring leader with 1,626 career points and counting. This jumper came as part of a 7-2 run, which eventually turned into a 12-5 run to end the half as the Golden Rams, led by 13 first-half points from Johnson, led 44-28 heading into the break.
Johnson was one of three Golden Rams in double figures in the victory as
Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) finished her night with 16 points, while
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) chipped in 13 of her own in the victory. Thoughts of another triple-double for Johnson may have danced in the heads of West Chester basketball fans as the night progressed as she finished with eight rebounds and six assists, while
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua) corralled a team-high nine rebounds.
West Chester opened the game on an 8-2 run over the first three minutes of the contest, but Shepherd battled back, outscoring the Golden Rams 8-3 over the next two-and-a-half minutes to cut the deficit to 11-10. West Chester closed the first quarter well, outscoring its hosts 11-4 the rest of the way, led by five points from McAteer to carry a 22-14 lead into the second quarter.
In the second, West Chester hit back-to-back layups in the first minute of the period as
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) and
Erin Daley (Lafayette Hill, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) stretched the Golden Rams lead to 26-14. Jordan Carr halted the WCU run and sparked a 7-2 run by the Rams, which cut the Golden Ram lead to 28-21. Daley countered with a quick three of her own, answering a make by Peyton Grant, which extended the Golden Ram lead back to 31-21 with six minutes to play until halftime. Johnson followed this up with a 1-for-2 trip to the line for her first points of the second quarter, which moved her just two points shy of tying the Golden Rams program record.
Carmaya Bowman hit a layup, which cut the Golden Ram lead back down to nine (32-23), but
Briana Seltzer (Reading, Pa./Reading) answered with a three of her own to give West Chester a 35-23 lead with five minutes to play in the first half. Johnson wasted little time in tying and breaking the record, hitting a jumper with 4:32 to play, which tied the record before hitting the record-breaker with 2:55 to play, which gave West Chester a 39-25 lead, which eventually turned into a 44-28 advantage heading to the half.
Out of the break, Shepherd scored the first four points of the third quarter on a jumper by Kara Wehner and another layup by Bowman, which cut the WCU lead to 44-32.
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua) halted the run with a layup off a feed from Johnson, who had also become the Golden Rams career assist leader in a victory over East Stroudsburg on January 13, which extended the lead back to 46-32. The Rams continued their comeback bid, cutting the deficit back down to nine after another made jumper by Peyton Grant and a three from Cara Minor as the Golden Rams suddenly saw their double-digit advantage shrink to 46-37.
The Golden Rams new career-scoring leader ensured the game would not stay within single digits for long, converting an old-fashioned three-point play, which stretched the lead back to 49-37. Seemingly unimpressed, Shepherd resumed its run immediately following this, converting a three-point play of its own before a perfect 2-for-2 trip to the line cut the West Chester lead to 49-42. Back and forth, the two teams continued to go as the third quarter wore on, but the Golden Rams held a suddenly precarious 55-44 lead after 30 minutes of basketball.
After closing the third on a 6-2 run, West Chester traded stops with Shepherd throughout the early part of the fourth as the two teams combined just for just 12 points through the first five minutes of the final period as West Chester held a 61-50 lead entering the late stages of regulation. The Rams continued their comeback bid as the fourth quarter continued, trimming the Golden Ram lead to 61-56 with just over three-and-a-half to play, prompting a West Chester timeout after back-to-back makes by Wehner in what was a career night for the rookie guard.
The Golden Rams timeout did its job initially, as McTamney hit a quick layup to halt the run, followed quickly by a fast break layup by Johnson that stretched the lead back to 65-56. Shepherd eventually pulled back to within four with 1:48 to play, which at the time was the closest the Rams had been since the midway part of the first quarter. McTamney hit another pull-up jumper with 1:34 to play to restore order and give the Golden Rams a 67-61 lead. This late advantage, combined with a few successful trips to the line by West Chester in the final minute-and-a-half, helped the Golden Rams escape the Butcher Athletic Center with a 77-66 victory over the Rams.
Wehner had a career night for Shepherd, finishing with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field, including a 2-for-3 effort from deep, while Grant chipped in 13 on 5-of-9 shooting as the Rams outscored West Chester by five in the second half to nearly upset the Golden Rams.
West Chester shot 45.2 % (28-of-62) from the field in the victory, shooting north of 50.0 % in the second and fourth quarters while also shooting 38.5 % (5-of-13) from beyond the arc, with all five makes coming in the first half. West Chester was nearly perfect at the line on Wednesday night, shooting 88.9 % (16-of-18), which helped the visitors come away with the 11-point victory.
For Shepherd, the Rams shot 47.9 % (23-of-48) from the field in the setback, shooting an even 50.0 % in both the third and fourth quarter, including a 2-for-4 effort from deep in the fourth. The Rams shot 37.5 % (6-of-16) from deep for the game and connected on 73.7 % (14-of-19) from the line, including an 8-of-12 effort in the fourth quarter.
The Golden Rams ended the game with a 35-27 lead in rebounding, including a 14-7 advantage on the offensive glass, which translated into a 15-7 lead in second-chance points. West Chester also finished the game with a 13-11 lead in turnovers and a 12-9 lead in points off the bench, led by seven points from Daley, which matched her career-high.
Up Next:
West Chester will continue its week away from Hollinger with a visit to East Stroudsburg on Saturday afternoon beginning at 1 p.m.
