GREENSBURG, Pa.- The West Chester University women's basketball team (6-5, 2-3) was back in action on Saturday afternoon at Seton Hill (10-2, 6-0) for its final PSAC Crossover game of the 2025-26 season. Looking to end Crossover play with a winning record, the Golden Rams fell to the homestanding Griffins, 82-67, to fall to 2-3 in league action entering PSAC East play on Wednesday afternoon at Mansfield.
The clash between the Golden Rams and Griffins featured five ties and five lead changes, but it was a late third-quarter run by Seton Hill that helped the Griffins stretch their lead to double digits midway through the fourth quarter in the eventual 15-point victory.
West Chester jumped out to an early 4-0 lead before Seton Hill answered back with a 7-0 run, capped off by a Hallie Cowan three-pointer in front of the Golden Ram bench, which gave the hosts a 7-4 lead.
Erin Daley (Lafayette Hill, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) helped West Chester answer quickly with a turnaround jumper in the lane moments later, which cut the deficit to 7-6. Seton Hill continued its early first-quarter run, stretching its lead to 11-6 with 5:06 to play in the first quarter before a perfect 2-for-2 trip to the line by
Marianna Papazoglou (North Wildwood, N.J./Wildwood Catholic) got the deficit back down to three (11-8) with 4:30 to play in the first quarter. Seton Hill extended its lead to as many as eight (20-12) after a Mia Kalich steal and fast break layup with 2:16 to play in the first before the Golden Rams closed the first quarter on a 7-2 run led by five points from
Alivia Mauz (Williamstown, N.J./Williamstown) to trail by just three (22-19) heading into the second quarter.
Back-to-back threes by
Ava Mazur (Linwood, N.J./Mainland) opened the second quarter scoring and gave West Chester a 25-22 lead before Seton Hill countered with a 5-0 run to take a 27-25 lead with 7:15 to play until halftime. Mazur continued her impressive barrage of threes with her third make of the quarter with four minutes to play, which cut the Seton Hill lead to 34-32. Seton Hill stretched its lead to 41-36 with 1:22 to play before Papazoglou led the Golden Rams on a 6-2 run to close the half as West Chester trailed by just one (43-42) heading into the halftime break.
Led by 15 points from Mazur and 10 from Papazoglou, West Chester shot 40.0 % (16-of-40) from the field in the first half, including a 3-of-12 (25.0 %) effort from beyond the arc, while also going 7-for-7 at the free throw line.
Seton Hill shot 44.8 % (13-of-29) from the field, including a 3-for-11 (27.3 %) from three-point territory, while also going a perfect 14-for-14 at the free throw line. Kalich led the Griffins in scoring with 11 points and nine rebounds in the first 20 minutes of action.
West Chester surged out to a 48-47 lead just five minutes into the second half after a jumper by Daley before Helene Cowan answered for Seton Hill with a wing three just over a minute later to restore a 50-48 lead for the homestanding Griffins. Embroiled in a nearly three-minute scoreless drought,
Ava Mazur controlled a defensive rebound with 2:20 to play in the third and gave the Golden Rams a chance to take a timeout with just over two minutes to play in the quarter.
Macie McCracken (North Wildwood, N.J./Wildwood) ended the scoreless streak with 1:37 to play in the third quarter when she got a second-chance basket following a rebound off a
Lena Stein (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) to tie the game at 50-50.
Seton Hill responded with two quick baskets in the next 40 seconds to take a 54-50 lead with under 50 seconds to play in the third. This 4-0 run turned into a 5-0 run before a Stein layup cut the deficit to 55-52 before Cowan closed out the third quarter scoring with another layup to give the hosts a 57-52 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Both teams struggled from the field in the third quarter as West Chester shot just 28.6 % (4-of-14) from the field in the quarter, while Seton Hill was 5-of-18 (27.8%) and 3-for-6 from the line after being perfect at the stripe in the first half.
Seton Hill opened the fourth quarter 3-for-6 from the field in the first two-and-a-half minutes to take a 63-54 lead before McCracken cut the deficit to 63-56 with a layup of her own on an assist from Mazur for her ninth helper of the afternoon. The Griffins' hot shooting fourth quarter continued as the hosts stretched their lead to 15 with under three minutes to play after a Hailee Ford layup, which gave her a team-high 20 points. West Chester also shook off its cold third-quarter performance, shooting 53.8 % (7-of-13) from the field, but it was not enough to upset the homestanding Griffins as Seton Hill prevailed by an 82-67 final.
West Chester finished with four players in double figures as
Ava Mazur led the Golden Rams in scoring with 15, while Mauz added 14, along with 12 from Papazoglou and 10 from McCracken. Mazur also led West Chester in assists with nine, while Daley led in rebounds with seven, along with six points on 3-of-5 shooting in 20 minutes of action. The Golden Ram bench accounted for 51 of the Golden Rams' 67 points in the setback, outscoring the Griffin bench 51-6.
West Chester shot 40.3 % (27-of-67) from the field in the loss, including a 22.2 % (4-of-18) from three-point range, while also going 9-for-9 at the free throw line.
Ford led Seton Hill and all scorers with 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting, while also going a perfect 8-for-8 at the free throw line. The Cowan sisters finished with 19 and 18 points, respectively, while Kalich chipped in 16 of her own along with 14 rebounds, four steals, and three assists.
Seton Hill shot 43.8 % (28-of-64) from the field and 27.3 % (6-of-22) from three-point range, while also going 20-for-23 (87.0 %) at the free throw line.
Seton Hill ended the game with a 41-36 lead in rebounding and a 15-9 lead in second-chance points, along with a 44-40 lead in points in the paint. West Chester did finish the game with a slim 19-18 lead in turnovers, although Seton Hill posted a 16-10 lead in points off the break and a 22-18 lead in points off turnovers.
Up Next
West Chester will open PSAC East play on Wednesday afternoon at Mansfield, beginning at 1 p.m.
