WILMINGTON, Del.-Lena Stein (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) led West Chester in scoring with 12 points as one of 13 Golden Rams in the scoring column to help lead the visiting West Chester women's basketball team (5-2) to an 84-35 victory over Wilmington (0-11).
Tonight's victory keeps West Chester unbeaten against Wilmington in its history with the Wildcats and is the Golden Rams largest margin of victory in a regular-season game since an 82-27 drubbing of Shepherd during the 2023-24 season.
Stein was one of three Golden Rams in double figures as
Macie McCracken (North Wildwood, N.J./Wildwood) and Ava Mazur (Linwood, N.J./Mainland Regional) finished with 11 points each.
West Chester carried a 12-9 lead into the second quarter after a late three by
Erin Daley (Lafayette Hill, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) with 3:03 to play in the opening quarter for the Golden Rams' final made basket of the frame. This three-pointer gave West Chester a 12-7 lead, and Wilmington scored the final points of the quarter on a Tianna Neal jumper, but the Golden Rams maintained a three-point lead after the first 10 minutes.
The second quarter remained close early as Wilmington trailed by just one (20-19) with 4:50 to play in the first half before West Chester went on a 9-2 run, including back-to-back makes from Stein, who finished the first half with 10 points. Holding a late 29-21 lead, Stein scored her 10
th and the final points of the first half just before halftime with a two-for-two trip to the free throw line to help West Chester carry a 31-21 lead into the halftime break, closing the half on an 11-2 run.
Kimi Sayson (Oceanport, N.J./Shore Regional) and
Jordin Tate (Wilmington, Del./Caravel) started the second half scoring with two baskets in the span of five seconds as the clock ticked under nine minutes, stretching the West Chester lead to 35-21. A
Marianna Papazoglou (North Wildwood, N.J./Wildwood Catholic) layup with 1:32 to play gave West Chester a 54-27 lead before a late
Ava Mazur (Linwood, N.J./Mainland Regional) layup gave West Chester a 59-29 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
After outscoring its hosts 28-8 in the third to stretch its lead from 10 to 30, West Chester stretched its lead to 66-29 with 7:55 to play after an
Alivia Mauz (Williamstown, N.J./Williamstown) layup before Mya Nisbet scored the first points of the quarter for Wilmington with a jumper with 6:58 to play.
Macie McCracken (North Wildwood, N.J./Wildwood) got the West Chester lead up to 46 with 3:29 to play after a jumper for her 11
th points of the game, marking the third game in a row in which the rookie has scored in double figures. West Chester continued its dominant second-half effort, outscoring Wilmington 25-6 in the fourth and 53-14 in the second half to post a dominant 84-35 victory over the host Wildcats.
Papazoglou led West Chester in rebounds and assists with 10 rebounds and five assists, along with four points.
Reynah Rattliff led Wilmington in scoring with 10 points, while Emma Brown collected 14 rebounds along with nine points, finishing just shy of a double-double.
West Chester shot 41.7 % (30-of-72) from the field, including a 7-for-25 (28.0 %) from three-point range, while also going 17-for-21 (81.0 %) at the free throw line.
West Chester ended the game with a 58-39 lead in rebounding, including a 20-16 lead on the offensive glass, which helped the team finish the game with an 18-8 lead in second-chance points and a 40-18 lead in points in the paint. West Chester also held a 19-9 lead in turnovers, which resulted in an 11-2 lead in points off the break.
Wilmington shot just 23.5 % (16-of-68) from the field, including a 2-for-21 (9.5 %) from beyond the arc, while also going 1-for-7 (14.3 %) from the charity stripe.
Up Next
West Chester will look to stretch its winning streak to five, which would match its longest streak from last season, on Saturday afternoon at home against Gannon beginning at 1 p.m.
