PHILADELPHIA, Pa.- The West Chester University women's basketball team will take on Division I foe Saint Joseph's in what will be a final exhibition game for the Golden Rams and the season opener for the Hawks on Tuesday, November 4, at 7 p.m. inside Michael J. Hagan '85 Arena.
Tuesday night's exhibition will be a final tune-up for West Chester ahead of its season opener on Friday, November 14, against Salem at 5 p.m. This clash will also be the first meeting between the Golden Rams and Hawks since February 1983, when SJU improved to 8-0 against the Golden Rams with a 71-51 victory. Tickets for tonight's game are available via this
link.
Fans unable to make the trip to City Avenue to cheer on the Golden Rams in person can follow the action via
live stats or
live video, as Mike Samsel (Play-by-Play) and Renie Shields (Color) will have the call on ESPN+.
West Chester heads into 2025 with high optimism as the team was picked to finish fourth in the PSAC East Preseason Coaches' poll after finishing fifth at 11-10 in league play a year ago. Last season, West Chester returned to the PSAC Tournament for the ninth time in 10 seasons under head coach
Kiera Wooden and advanced to the Quarterfinals for the seventh time in those nine appearances before falling to eventual PSAC Tournament Champion Kutztown by a 63-50 final.
If West Chester is to return to the PSAC Tournament once again in 2025-26, the Golden Rams will need significant contributions from a young group, which includes seven incoming freshmen. West Chester returns three of its five starters from last year; however, the Golden Rams graduated 1,074 of their 1,957 points from a year ago, as
Michelle Kozicki (623 points),
Anna McTamney (451), and
Rachel Conran (112) finished their time in the Purple and Gold. Sophomore guard
Bella Mazur (Linwood, N.J./Mainland) is the leading returning scorer for West Chester after averaging 8.9 points per game in her rookie season.
While Tuesday night is a final tuneup for West Chester ahead of the "real deal" next week, it will be the 2025-26 opener for the Hawks as the Griffins open their campaign at home for the sixth year in a row. In her 25
th season at the helm, head coach Cindy Griffin is 19-5 in home openers and has guided the Hawks to wins in each of their last six openers, winning by an average of 26.3 points per game in such contests. Tuesday's game is also just the third time that a Griffin-led team has faced a Division II foe, with the previous instances being a 102-30 win over Goldey Beacom in the 2024-25 home opener and an 88-41 victory over Savannah State in the 2012-13 season.
The Golden Rams will undoubtedly look different this year, but so will the Hawks, as they must replace four starters from last season's lineup, with only forward Gabby Casey having started seven or more games last season. At the end of the 2024-25 season, three players who ranked among the top 11 in program history in scoring departed, taking with them 4,737 career points. Faith Stinson is just one of the many transfers Griffin added in the offseason, and she joins the team with 565 career points, while Casey's 390 are the most by any returning Hawk.
West Chester will officially open its 2025 season on Friday, November 14, against Salem before facing Glenville State on Saturday, November 15, at the 37
th Carol Eckman Memorial Classic in Hollinger Field House. West Chester will start its season in this manner for the first time since 2023 after venturing to the University of Charleston (W.V.) for the opening weekend a year ago.
