WEST CHESTER- The West Chester Lady Rams completed another perfect week as they defeated East Stroudsburg and Columbia Union to push their winning streak to seven games. On Tuesday night, the Lady Rams traveled to Columbia Union to take on the Lady Pioneers in a non-conference game. On the line, a five game winning streak and the sour feeling of being a .500 team again. The Lady Rams after remaining below .500 all year refused to fall back to mediocrity once more.
From the start, the Rams dominated. West Chester doubled up the Lady Pioneers leading at halftime by a score of 36-18. It only ballooned from there.
At the peak of the game, West Chester led by as many as 25 points and eventually won 82-71. Dominique Lewis and Katie Kline both posted double-doubles with two other Rams in double figures.
On Saturday, the Lady Rams returned home to play host to the No. 2 ranked East Stroudsburg Lady Warriors who carried a nine game winning streak into the contest.
The Rams and Warriors came out quickly trading buckets during the first half until Stroudsburg closed the half on a 7-0 run leading 31-24 after forcing three Lady Rams to the bench with foul trouble.
“I told them to stay confident,” Coach Deirdre Kane said afterwards. “We had three starters on the bench with two fouls and for us to stay with them worked to our advantage.”
In the second half, strategies changed and players stepped up especially Senior Dominique Lewis. After getting into early foul trouble, Lewis settled into shear dominance and finished the game with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
“It was frustrating to have to sit on the bench,” Lewis beckoned. “I just sit there and cheer, do a little coaching and watch [the game].”
“Dominique Lewis is now playing like Dominique Lewis,” Kane stressed. “We went to her and they couldn’t stop her. They knew we were going to her.”
In the second half, along with Lewis, Natalie Winters and Catherine Andrews contributed after being benched earlier. Winters contributed for 12 points in limited duty. Catherine Andrews sealed the game with a critical 3-pointer after the Warriors rallied to keep the game close.
“I’m very happy it went in because if it wouldn’t have I probably would have got in a lot of trouble.” Andrews added. “Coming out in the second half, we knew we were better than them.”
The Rams finished the second half with 50 points in route to a 74-53 victory. The Lady Rams are now tied with East Stroudsburg for the number one spot with a 7-1 conference record.
“We’re going to Cheyney, we’re going to Millersville, and we’re going to Mansfield. We could lose at any of those places, the way the league is,” Kane concluded. “I’m not taking anything for granted; there’s no room for a misstep.”
Coming up: The Lady Rams travel to Cheyney on Wednesday night and Mansfield Saturday afternoon.