LOCK HAVEN, Pa.- Following a home win over Shepherd on Wednesday evening, the West Chester University women's basketball team (9-8, 5-6) returned to action on Saturday afternoon at Lock Haven (12-5, 8-3), searching for an important road win over the PSAC East-leading Bald Eagles. West Chester stormed out to an 11-point lead early, but Lock Haven stormed back to earn a 73-50 victory over the visiting Golden Rams.
Lena Stein (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) led West Chester in scoring with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field, including two makes from beyond the arc, along with 12 rebounds, four assists, and four steals.
Jordin Tate (Wilmington, Del./Caravel) scored a career-high 12 points to go along with three rebounds and three assists in a road loss for the Golden Rams.
Hoping to follow a similar script to its road win over Lock Haven a season ago, West Chester got out to an early lead, leading 15-4 with 4:02 to play in the first quarter as the Golden Rams carried a 20-12 lead into the second. The visiting Golden Rams were 7-for-15 (46.7 %) from the field in the first quarter, including a 3-for-6 (50.0 %) effort from three-point range to take an early lead.
West Chester maintained its lead into the second and held a slim 26-25 edge with 2:23 to play in the first half before the Bald Eagles continued their big second quarter, closing the frame on a 9-2 run, punctuated by a Sydney Lear three at the buzzer to take a 34-28 lead into the halftime break.
Led by eight early points from Tate, West Chester shot 37.9 % (11-of-29) from the field in the first half, including a 3-for-7 (42.9 %) effort from beyond the arc, while also going 3-for-4 at the free throw line.
Lock Haven shook off its slow start offensively and shot 40.0 % (10-of-25) from the field in the first half, including a 2-for-9 (22.2 %) effort from beyond the arc, while also going 12-for-17 (70.6 %) at the line to take a six-point lead into the halftime break.
West Chester struggled to regain its footing in the third quarter as the Bald Eagles outscored West Chester 24-10 in the frame to carry a 58-38 lead into the fourth as Lock Haven was 6-for-13 (46.2 %) from the field, including 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, while West Chester shot just 30.0 % (3-for-10) and was charged with eight turnovers along with just three rebounds.
Stein scored the first points of the fourth just over a minute into the frame, which cut the deficit to 58-40. The fourth quarter was low scoring for much of the frame, but Lock Haven held off the Golden Rams for a 73-50 victory on Saturday afternoon.
West Chester shot 36.5 % (19-of-52) from the field, including a 4-for-11 (36.4 %) from three-point range, while also going 8-for-12 (66.7 %) from the free throw line.
Lock Haven shot 39.2 % (20-of-51) from the field, including a 5-for-16 (31.3 %) effort from beyond the arc, while also going 28-for-35 (80.0 %) from the line. Jenadia Jordan led Lock Haven in scoring with 26 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field, while Madeline Evans finished the game with 18 points and 13 rebounds for yet another double-double.
Alana Robinson was the third and final Bald Eagle in double figures with 12 points of her own.
The Bald Eagles also finished the game with a 35-22 lead in rebounding, including a 10-4 lead in offensive rebounding, which led to a 12-8 lead in second-chance points. The Bald Eagles also finished the game with a 23-16 lead in turnovers and a 26-14 lead in points off turnovers.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action on Thursday at East Stroudsburg, beginning at 5:30 p.m., after its game against Millersville, originally scheduled for Tuesday evening in Hollinger, was postponed due to the anticipated impacts of the winter storm, which will move into the area later this evening.
