WCU takes over sole possession of first place

This week the West Chester University Lady Rams continued their early season stay on top of the PSAC Eastern Division as they defeated the Cheyney University Lady Wolves and the Mansfield University Lady Mountaineers to extend their winning streak to five games. On Wednesday, Jan. 21, the Lady Rams (12-5, 4-0 PSAC East) continued their dominance over rival Cheyney by defeating the Lady Wolves 65-54 at Cope Hall. The victory marked the 36th time that West Chester has defeated Cheyney in the last 37 games played.

West Chester was able to walk out of Cheyney with a victory despite turning the ball over 41 times.

"It's hard to say," head coach Deirdre Kane said. "I don't believe I have ever coached a game where my team had 40 turnovers. I knew we were turning it over, but wow, I have to put my glasses on. Is that really a 4?"

The Lady Rams jumped out to a 14-point lead halfway through the first half after sophomore guard Megan Stewart hit a three-pointer and junior forward Renata Neal converted a layup to make the score 21-7.

Sophomores Mary Kate Serratelli and Dominique Adams would increase West Chester's lead to 16 after converted back-to-back buckets with eight minutes remaining in the half.

With West Chester holding a 14 point lead, both teams went stagnant as the Lady Rams turned the ball over four times during the stretch and Cheyney missed a couple of shots. Cheyney broke the streak after sophomore guard Angel Henderson buried a couple of free throws to cut into the West Chester lead.

The Lady Rams finished the half scoring the final six points as senior forward Dana Weems hit a jumper, junior forward Janelle Garber hit two free throws and freshman guard Jill Keefer made a layup with less than 20 seconds remaining in the half to end the scoring. West Chester went into the locker room with a 12 point lead.

In the second half, both teams traded shot for shot as West Chester continued to hold a double digit lead until the 13 minute mark of the half.

Junior forward Stephanie Orji for Cheyney hit a jumper to pull the Lady Wolves within 10 points for the first time since the first half.

The Lady Rams turned the ball over again and Cheyney took advantage. Senior guard Martina Randall buried a three-point shot with less than 12 minutes remaining in the game to cut the West Chester lead to five.

Following another two-minute dry spell by both teams, Cheyney took advantage of yet another West Chester turnover. Following a made free throw by junior guard Lutfiyya Muhammad, Cheyney created another turnover as Keefer could not control the basketball and Angel Stephens made a layup to pull Cheyney within two points.

Another three minutes of scoreless basketball followed before Garber converted two free throws to give West Chester a four point lead. After the Lady Rams went up by seven, Cheyney made another run at West Chester.

After Randall hit her fifth three-pointer of the game, Cheyney forced Neal to turn the ball over and Orji converted a layup and hit the corresponding free throw after being fouled to cut the West Chester lead to the slimmest of margins.

"The crowd was back into it," Kanes said. "They are back into it. Randall could light it up."

West Chester answered right back as Adams and Stewart buried back-to-back three-pointers to make it 57-50. The Lady Rams converted eight of their final nine free throws in the game to end the night.

Garber led three Lady Rams in scoring with 13 points. Adams (11) and Stewart (10) were the other Lady Rams in double figures. Weems finished with a game-high 11 rebounds and recorded a team-high four steals on the night. Bridget Carlin added seven points for the Lady Rams off the bench.

West Chester shot 48.5 percent from the field for the game, including 40 percent from behind the arc. The Lady Rams also shot 85.3 percent from the free throw line.

"This game we shot the ball well," Kane said. "The last game, we didn't turn it over but we couldn't shoot."

Randall finished with a game-high 17 points for the Lady Wolves. Muhammad finished with 11 points, four rebounds, four assists, three steals and a game-high 10 turnovers. Cheyney shot 29.7 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from the three-point line. Cheyney committed 25 turnovers on the night.

On Saturday, Jan. 24, West Chester increased their winning streak to five games after defeating Mansfield 70-59 to take over sole possession of first place in the PSAC East.

West Chester shot 52.5 percent from the field for the game as they took the lead late in the first half and never looked back as the Mountaineers could not mount a comeback against the Lady Rams.

West Chester opened up a 15 point lead after going on a 15-2 run late in the first half into the second half.

Garber scored a season-high 26 points as she controlled the middle of the paint against the smaller and less athletic forwards for Mansfield.

Neal scored 11 points and had three blocks, plus altered many other shots by the Mansfield players trying to get easy baskets in the lane. Adams added nine points, four rebounds and two assists on the afternoon.

Stewart (7), Allison Hostetter (6), Serratelli (5), Weems and Carlin (3 apiece) rounded out the scoring for West Chester. Hostetter also had eight rebounds and four steals. Stewart added 11 assists, three rebounds and a steal in the game.



CLEARING THE NOTEBOOK



PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Janelle Garber. The junior forward averaged 19.5 points during the week, including a season-high 26 points on Saturday against the Mansfield Mountaineers.

UPCOMING GAMES: The Lady Rams return home on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. game against Kutztown University in the semi-annual battle for Golden Glory against the Golden Bears. On Saturday, they return to the road for a three-game road trip beginning with East Stroudsburg at 1 p.m.

WHERE THEY STAND: Following the 2-0 week in the PSAC East, West Chester sits alone in first place at 4- 0. Kutztown, Cheyney and Shippensburg are sitting in second place at 3-1.

LJ Harrell is a third-year student majoring in Business. He can be reached at LH639694@wcupa.edu.