West Chester at Millersville
Game Details: Wednesday, January 29 I 5:30 P.M
Location: Pucillo Gymnasium (Millersville, Pa.)
Coverage Links: Live Stats I Video I Tickets
Series: 52-47 (W8)
WCU Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Ville Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Last Time Out
Similarly to its setback at Mansfield on Wednesday night, West Chester got off to a slow start on Saturday and found itself down 13 midway through the second, trailing 43-30 at the midway point. The Golden Rams once again staged a second-half comeback, which saw the team to pull back to within two (61-59) late in the fourth quarter after outscoring their guests 15-7 in the third, but Bloomsburg closed the game out at the free throw line to escape Hollinger with a 70-61 victory. Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua) and Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) both registered double-doubles, finishing with 25 points and 10 rebounds and 16 points and 10 rebounds, respectively. Erin Daley (Lafayette Hill, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) was the third and final Golden Ram in double figures with 11 as the Golden Ram front court accounted for 52 of the team’s 61 points in the loss. West Chester shot 41.7 % (25-of-60) from the field and 14.3 % (2-of-14) from deep while also shooting 75.0 % (9-of-12) at the free throw line. Bloomsburg was led by 19 points from Leah Kale as the Huskies shot 39.6 % (19-of-48) from the field, including 10-for-25 (40.0 %) from beyond the arc and 22-for-25 (88.0 %) at the line. The Huskies made just two (2-of-12) field goals in the third quarter and were 4-for-8 from the field in the fourth but went 13-of-15 from the line in the second half to emerge victorious. West Chester ended the game with a 35-31 lead in rebounding and an 11-6 lead in second-chance points while also winning the turnover battle 18-17, which led to a 27-10 lead in points off turnovers and a 44-14 lead in points in the paint.
Flock Talk
Kozicki ranks second in the PSAC in scoring, averaging 21.1 points per game, while her 10.1 rebounds per game is fifth best in the league. Anna McTamney, is second on the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 15.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. McTamney is eighth in the league in scoring, making West Chester the only team to place two players in the top 10 in the league in scoring. Ranking third on the team in scoring, Bella Mazur has been a great addition to the Golden Ram lineup in her rookie campaign, averaging 9.3 points per game thanks in part to six double-digit scoring efforts in nine games and seven such efforts in nine home games this season.
As a team, West Chester averages 67.6 points per game on 39.9 % shooting from the field and 26.6 % from three-point range. West Chester also leads the PSAC and ranks fourth in Division II in free throw shooting, connecting on 80.2 % of its attempts at the stripe.
Double Double Machine
Kozicki now has 11 double-doubles on the year, which is tied for fourth in DII and second in the PSAC Emily Chmiel (ESU) leads the PSAC and DII with 14. Kozicki ranks second in the PSAC in scoring, averaging 21.1 points per game, while her 10.1 rebounds is fifth best. The senior forward is also one of just three players since 1982 to score 35 points or more in two or more games in the same season. The lone other Golden Rams to accomplish this feat were Leah Johnson in 2023 (38 vs. WVSU 11/13/22, 44 vs. Cal 3/10/23 *NCAA Tournament) and Mitzi Reitnouer in February 1982 when she scored 37 vs. Drexel on 2/2, 37 vs. ESU on 2/8, and 42 vs. Towson on 2/20.
We Love Free Stuff
West Chester is fourth in DII in free throw percentage, shooting 80.2 % at the line this season. WCU has hit over 70.0 % in 16 of 19 games and 80.0 % or better in 10 of 16, including a season-high 92.0 % effort vs Lock Haven.
Working Late
West Chester’s OT win over East Stroudsburg was the Golden Rams third OT win in three such games already this season, marking the first time since 2015-16 that West Chester has played three overtime games in one year. The victory at ESU also marked the first time since 2009-10 that West Chester has won three OT games in one year and the first time since 2008-09 that West Chester has won each of its first three OT games of the season.
The Second Round
Wednesday night’s game is the final game of the first half of PSAC East play for West Chester as the team looks to move to 6-7 in league play before entering the home stretch of the 2024-25 season at Lock Haven on Saturday at 1 p.m. Heading into the final night of the first half of East play, West Chester is fifth in the PSAC East and just one-game back of Kutztown and Millersville for fourth as the Golden Bears and Marauders are tied at 6-6. If West Chester can beat Millersville on Wednesday night, the Golden Rams will hold a head-to-head tiebreaker over Millersville, Kutztown, East Stroudsburg, Shippensburg, and Shepherd entering the second half of PSAC East play.
Series History
West Chester holds a 52-47 lead in the all-time series against Millersville after winning each of the last eight dating back to an 85-71 victory at home in February 2020. West Chester lost to Millersville on January 29 of the 2020 season at Millersville by a 65-44 final.
Scouting Millersville
Millersville enters play on Wednesday night with a record of 11-8 overall and a mark of 6-6 in league play after dropping each of its last three games, starting off with a 69-49 loss to Kutztown before continuing with a 69-62 loss vs ESU and an 81-51 loss at Lock Haven on Saturday. On Saturday afternoon, Millersville found itself in trouble early as the Marauders were outscored 17-2 in the first quarter on 1-of-10 shooting from the field and, despite outscoring their hosts 22-18 in the third, could come all the way back in the eventual 30-point loss. Kali March led the way in scoring with 17 points on 4-of-14 shooting from the field and an 8-for-8 effort at the line as Millersville shot just 27.6 % (16-of-58) from the field and 28.6 % (2-of-7) from three-point range. The Marauders were 17-for-21 at the line, including a perfect 7-of-7 in the second quarter, which provided a good chunk of their scoring throughout the night.
Millersville enters play averaging 64.1 points per game on 40.8 % shooting from the field and 31.6 % from beyond the arc, while its opponents average 59.1 points per game on 34.5 % shooting from the field and 28.2 % from three-point range. The Marauders also hold a narrow 38.8-38.7 lead in rebounding and are tied with opponents in turnovers at 17.4 per game apiece despite holding an 8.8-7.7 lead in steals per game.
Individually, Kali March and Makiah Shaw lead the team in scoring, averaging 13.0 and 11.3 points per game, respectively. Brenna Ortwein leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.3 rebounds per game, while March, who transferred into Millersville as a grad student this season from Cornell College, also leads the team in assists, averaging 3.4 per game.
