Women’s BasketballThe victory keeps the Golden Rams atop the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division with a 7-0 record, while WCU improves to 12-9 overall.
The Golden Rams will clinch a berth in the PSAC Playoffs for the ninth straight year with a win over East Stroudsburg on Wednesday.
Mack, who set the record of 67 three-pointers last year, broke her own mark by hitting seven three-pointers versus the Huskies in WCU’s conference win. She now has 73 in 2003-04 with at least six games to play.
Mack connected on 12 of 22 field goal attempts and seven of 11 three-pointers en route to her game-high 33 points. She now has recorded back-to-back 30-point games after tallying 32 versus Kutztown on Wednesday, while her two-game three-point total stands at 15.
Swimming and Diving
Freshman swimmer Leeanne Rowland captured six events over a two-day stretch, leading the West Chester University women’s swimming and diving team to a sweep of Bloomsburg and Southern Connecticut in the regular-season finals.
For her efforts, Rowland was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Women’s Swimmer of the Week.
The honor was announced by the PSAC Office in Lock Haven, Pa. on Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 3. On Jan. 31, the Golden Rams tamed the Huskies 140-117 inside Graham Natatorium on WCU’s South Campus.
Less than 24 hours later, on Sunday, Feb. 1, WCU had navigated the I-95 corridor to New Haven, CT, where it flogged Southern Connecticut State University 131-107.
The twin victories – separated by nearly 200 miles over two days – gave the Golden Rams a final regular-season mark of 6-2. It also wiped out the sting of a tough 250-120 loss at Clarion.
Joining Row-land on the 200 MR at SCSU were freshman Melissa Young (North Canton, OH/Hoover), sophomore Julie Keefer (Palmyra/Palmyra) and junior Ashley Haney (Lititz/Warwick). Keefer wound up a triple-winner after finishing first in the 50 free (24.64) and 100 free (53.52) events, while Young added the 100 breast (1:09.16) race to her gold medal day.
of 10:36.66 in the 1000 free was more than 20 seconds faster than the runner-up.
Men’s Basketball
The West Chester University men’s basketball team repelled a late Bloomsburg challenge on Saturday night to defeat the Huskies 81-74.
The victory lifted the Golden Rams to 3-4 in the PSAC Eastern Division and tied WCU with Kutztown and Millersville for the fourth and final playoff spot.
Both Kutztown and Millersville lost on Saturday afternoon. WCU is now 12-9 overall, while Bloomsburg falls to 6-15 and 1-6 in the PSAC East.
Kofi Danquah posted a team-high 18 points as he led five Golden Rams into double-figures. He completed the double-double with 11 rebounds.
Matt Kurtz scored 13 points, Bran-don Long added 11, and Antoine Lovelace and Steve Fattori each posted 10. Sam Grannum dominated the boards with a game-high 13 as West Chester out-rebounded the Huskies 42-22.
Football
Senior TB Mike Eckmeyer and red-shirt freshman TB and return specialist Osagie Osunde continue to pile up the post-season awards. Eckmeyer has claimed a pair of collegiate football honors from his native New Jersey, while Osunde has been selected to the d2.com All-Northeast Region Freshmen Team.
These honors follow both Eckmeyer and Osunde earning a place on the 2003 All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division First Team. On Wednesday, Dec. 10, Eckmeyer received the College Offensive Player of the Year Award by The Touchdown Club of Southern New Jersey.
The senior tail back accepted the honor at the Woodbury (NJ) Country Club during the organization’s annual banquet. Just 24 hours later Eckmeyer was back in South Jersey claiming the Brooks-Irvine Memorial Football Club’s NCAA Division II Player of the Year Honor. The stellar back picked up this piece of hardware at the Cherry Hill (NJ) Hilton on Thursday, Dec. 11.
Eckmeyer completed his WCU career as one of the most prolific backs in Golden Ram history. For the third straight year he was named All-PSAC East, claiming First Team honors for the second consecutive season. He was named to the Second Team in 2001.
This season Eckmeyer rushed for 1,133 yards, scored nine touchdowns, averaged 6.1 yards per carry and 113.3 yards per game. He also caught eight passes for 156 yards and one score, recorded 1,289 all-purpose yards and piled up 1133 yards of total offense.
His 1,133 rushing total ranks as the 10th highest single-season yardage mark in WCU history. Against Mansfield on November 15, Eckmeyer recorded his 22nd career 100-yard game, break-ing the record of 21 erected by Derrick Price from September 17, 1988 through November 10, 1990. Eckmeyer ended his career at WCU by finishing third all-time in career rushing yards with 3,698.
He carried the ball 624 times and scored 29 rushing touchdowns to rank fourth in both all-time categories, while his 188 career points tied him with Scott Asman (1987-90) for 10th all-time in scoring. Eckmeyer also is among the all-time, all-purpose yardage leaders after he became just the fourth Golden Ram to compile over 4,000 in a career.