WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Riding a season-long four-game winning streak, the West Chester University women's basketball team (13-12, 10-8) ran its winning streak to five in a row with a thrilling 64-62 victory over East Stroudsburg (11-13, 8-10) on Wednesday night.
West Chester led for much of the night but once again needed late-game heroics to defeat East Stroudsburg, completing the season sweep of the Warriors in dramatic fashion after
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) knocked down a pair of free throws with .03 seconds to play after grabbing a rebound off an ESU miss moments earlier.
These free throws completed a victory, which featured six lead changes and seven ties as neither side held a lead larger than 10, with that 10-point lead being held by West Chester, who held this advantage with just under nine minutes to play in the first half.
In a battle between two of the top forwards in the PSAC East,
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua) led West Chester with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Emily Chmiel finished with her league-leading 17
th double-double of the year.
Kozicki was one of three Golden Rams in double figures as McTamney added 15 points and five rebounds, while
Erin Daley (Lafayette Hill, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) scored 11 points of her own in the victory.
West Chester shot 39.3 % (24-of-61) from the field, including 41.7 % (5-of-12) from three-point range, while also going 11-for-12 (91.7 %) at the free throw line.
East Stroudsburg jumped out to a 6-2 lead, but West Chester countered and took a 21-12 lead into the second quarter, thanks in part to a 9-0 run midway through the frame to build an early lead.
The Warriors outscored the Golden Rams 8-4 through the first five minutes of the second quarter to cut the lead to 25-20 midway through the frame. ESU continued its comeback bid and eventually took a slim lead late in the frame before the game went to the half tied at 32-32.
West Chester shot 43.3 % (13-of-30) from the field in the first half, while East Stroudsburg shot 38.5 % (10-of-26) from the field in the first half.
Brie Droege led all scorers in the first half with 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting, while Kozicki scored 10 first-half points to lead West Chester in scoring.
East Stroudsburg opened the second half on a 7-0 run to take a 39-32 lead with 7:21 to play and force an early Golden Ram timeout. West Chester regained its footing quickly, closing the half on a 15-6 run to take a 47-45 lead into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, West Chester jumped out to a 59-50 lead before East Stroudsburg stormed back to cut the lead to 61-60 with 30 seconds to play. West Chester got an important stop on an ESU possession, which began with 31 seconds to play, but went just 1-for-2 at the line with 20 seconds left, holding a 62-60 lead with 20 seconds to play as ESU got the ball back.
Following another timeout, East Stroudsburg chose to go quickly, scoring in just four seconds as Emily Chmiel hit a layup to tie the score at 62-62 with 15.7 seconds to play.
The Warriors shot to win the game in the final moments was off the mark, and McTamney grabbed her fifth rebound of the day and was fouled in the process with just .03 seconds to play.
McTamney went to the line and buried both free throws to lift West Chester to the thrilling 64-62 victory and start what figured to be a great night of basketball in Hollinger Field House.
Brie Droege led ESU in scoring with 28 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field while also going 11-for-12 at the free throw line as she and Chmiel were the lone two Warriors in double figures.
East Stroudsburg shot 38.0 % (19-of-50) from the field in the loss, including a 3-for-14 (21.4 %) effort from deep. The Warriors also went 21-for-25 at the free-throw line.
East Stroudsburg ended the game with a 38-33 lead in rebounding, although West Chester ended the game with a 32-16 lead in points in the paint. West Chester also ended the game with a 21-15 lead in turnovers, a 22-12 lead in points off turnovers, and an 11-5 lead in points off the bench led by six from
Ava Mazur (Linwood, N.J./Mainland Regional).
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action on Saturday afternoon at Bloomsburg beginning at 1 p.m.
