EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa.- Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua) scored 26 points, and
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) added 18 of her own to help lead the West Chester University women's basketball team (6-9, 3-5) to a 77-72 OT victory over East Stroudsburg (5-8, 2-5) on Wednesday evening
West Chester led by as many as 14 midway through the fourth quarter before a late 15-2 run by ESU forced overtime to decide a victor. West Chester entered play 2-0 in OT games this season, outscoring opponents 24-11 in two OT wins so far this year, and outscored ESU 11-6 in the extra period to pick up its third overtime win of the season. This marks the first time since the 2015-16 season that WCU has played in OT three times in a season since 2015-16, while it is the first time since 2009-10 that WCU has captured three OT wins in the same season.
Kozicki hit a late layup with under 10 seconds to play to force overtime, and McTamney scored a game-high five points in OT to help West Chester capture its third PSAC win of the season and second Eastern Division win.
Bella Mazur (Linwood, N.J./Mainland Regional) was the third and final Golden Ram in double figures in the victory as the freshman guard mustered 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting while also going 2-for-2 at the line. McTamney's 18 points leaves the senior forward just one point shy of her 1,000th point as a Golden Ram entering play on Saturday.
West Chester shot 38.5 % (25-of-65) from the field, including 5-for-19 (26.3 %) from three-point range, while also going 22-for-24 (91.7 %) at the line in the five-point OT victory. For its part, ESU shot 34.8 % (24-of-69) from the field, including a 5-for-16 (31.3 %) effort from deep, while going 19-for-27 (70.4 %) at the line.
West Chester raced out to a 12-3 lead through the first five minutes, led by five points each by McTamney and
Erin Daley (Lafayette Hill, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh). East Stroudsburg made a defensive adjustment out of the under-five media timeout and cut the deficit to 14-10 heading into the second quarter after outscoring West Chester 7-2 down the stretch of the quarter.
ESU outscored West Chester 15-5 through the first eight minutes of the second quarter to claim a commanding 25-19 lead with two minutes to play until halftime. Emily Chmiel led the way during this charge, scoring nine of the 15 points before West Chester used a 5-0 run by Kozicki to cut the deficit to 25-24. Chmiel and Brie Droege got the ESU lead back to 30-26 with just nine seconds to play until halftime before a late Kozicki layup cut the Warrior lead to 30-28 at the half.
Kozicki led West Chester in scoring in the first half with 12 points, while McTamney added eight of her own, along with seven by Daley.
West Chester shot 37.0 % (11-of-30) from the field in the first half, including 27.0 % (3-for-11) from three-point range, while ESU shot 35.0 % (11-for-31) from the field and 29 % (2-of-7) from three-point range and 86.0 % (6-of-7) at the free throw line.
East Stroudsburg stretched its lead to four early in the third quarter before another 4-0 Golden Ram run brought the score back even at 32-32, which, after another defensive stop by the Golden Rams, forced an early Warrior timeout. West Chester slipped out to a 38-35 lead with under four minutes to play. McTamney got the lead back to six with 3:30 to play in the third with a perfect three-for-three trip to the line, making the score 41-35 in favor of the Golden Rams. West Chester continued its strong third-quarter performance, carrying a 49-41 lead into the fourth after going 9-for-9 at the line and 6-for-15 (40.0 %) from the field through the first 10 minutes of the second half.
In the fourth,
Rachel Conran (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) opened the scoring with a three, which stretched the lead to 52-41 and gave West Chester the largest lead of the night to that point. The Warriors halted the Golden Rams 9-0 run at the free throw line, to cut the deficit back to nine before Mazur hit another driving layup to stretch the lead back to 54-43. Conran hit her second three of the quarter with just under eight minutes to play, which extended the Golden Ram lead to 57-43. ESU was not interested in going away quietly, getting the West Chester lead back to 10 (57-47) after a tip-in through contact by Katie Geisler. Geisler had a chance to get the deficit back to nine but missed her attempt at the line, and Daley grabbed the rebound to maintain at least a 10-point advantage.
ESU continued its comeback bid down the stretch, cutting the West Chester lead to eight with four-and-a-half minutes to play, prompting a quick West Chester timeout, which became the media timeout as the Golden Rams worked to halt the Warrior run. East Stroudsburg kept the run going out of the timeout, cutting the West Chester lead to 62-59 with just over three minutes to play before trimming the lead to just one with 2:46 to play after another good layup by Geisler before an Izzy Vogel jumper gave the Warriors a 63-62 lead with 2:19 to play.
On the wrong end of a 13-0 run over three minutes, West Chester finally halted the run with a Kozicki jumper off her own miss, restoring a slim 64-63 lead. West Chester found itself down 65-64 once again, and with little choice but to foul late, the Golden Rams sent East Stroudsburg back to the free-throw line with just over 30 seconds to play. ESU went just 1-for-2 at the stripe, which kept the deficit at two with 20 seconds to play. Kozicki tied the game at 66-66 with her 24 points of the game off an assist by
Alainna Hopta (York, Pa./York Suburban).
The Warrior's first game-winning attempt with eight seconds left was off the mark, but the hosts got the rebound and earned another chance at it with 1.1 seconds to play. Izzy Vogel had the game in her hands as time expired, but her shot also missed, forcing overtime for the Golden Rams for the third time this season.
In its third overtime game of the season for the first time since 2015-16, McTamney gave West Chester the first lead of OT with a three-point play with 3:34 to play in OT. West Chester held ESU scoreless and stretched its lead back to five after a Kozicki baseline layup. East Stroudsburg mustered its first points of the extra period at the line, but West Chester held a 73-68 lead with 40.7 seconds to play. Hopta extended the lead back to 75-68 with two more makes at the free-throw line.
East Stroudsburg once again proved it was not interested in going away quietly, cutting the deficit to 75-70 before forcing a turnover on the inbounds play and hitting another layup to cut the West Chester lead to 75-72 with under 20 seconds to play.
Hopta secured the victory for West Chester with two more makes at the free throw line as the Golden Rams escaped with a five-point win over the Warriors.
For ESU, Emily Chmiel, who had been widely regarded as one of the top forwards in the league for much of the season, mustered 21 points and 16 rebounds as the Warriors found themselves on the wrong end of a great battle between two of the top forwards in the PSAC East.
Despite the victory, West Chester was outrebounded 48-38, although the Golden Rams did end the game with a 34-28 lead in points in the paint and an 11-10 advantage in second-chance points. Kozicki led West Chester in rebounds with nine to narrowly miss out on yet another double-double, while Hopta led the team in assists with three, and Daley led the team in steals with four.
Up Next:
West Chester is back in action on Saturday afternoon, beginning at 2 p.m., against Kutztown, which will also be Alumni Day for the Golden Rams.
