In front of a rowdy crowd on Saturday afternoon at Hollinger Field House, the West Chester women’s basketball team came up just short of a massive comeback as they fell to Millersville, 69-68.
West Chester trailed the game at halftime by 19, at a score of 42-23. As the game came to a close, the Lady Golden Rams made a furious attempt to erase the deficit and it came down to the final seconds. With no time left on the clock and West Chester down 69-66, Meghan Kerrigan managed to sink a jump shot on an assist from Allison Hostetter. It was only a two-pointer, though, which meant Millersville held on for the win.
Junior forward Alex Lennon led the way in scoring with 19 points. Center Ambreelinne Ortman added 18 points of her own in addition to her nine rebounds. Star senior guard Hostetter scored 13 points, but also helped out with eight rebounds and eight assists.
The referees were none too kind to West Chester. They called 21 fouls on the Golden Rams, but only 12 on the Mauraders. This allowed Millersville to convert 18 of 26 free throw attempts, while West Chester only went 6-for-13 from the line. The difference in free throw opportunities proved to be key in Millersville’s victory. West Chester was forced to take matters into their own hands as a result, and they did manage to secure 15 steals to Millersville’s eight.
West Chester also forced 26 turnovers from their opponents, but it did not matter in the end. Three-point shots were not much of a factor, as each team struggled mightily to make them. West Chester shot a dismal 2-for-12, good for 17 percent, while Millersville weren’t much better at 28 percent (5-for-18).
The most dis -appointing part of the loss was that it caused West Chester to relinquish its hold on first place in the PSAC East. The Lady Golden Rams fell to 11-5 in conference, and 15-5 on the year, while Bloomsburg remains 11-4 in conference. Millersville, meanwhile, improve to 10-6 and will have their own aspirations of capturing first place in the division soon.
On Wednesday, West Chester couldn’t have been more impressive as they thrashed lowly Mansfield, 92-66. In that game, West Chester put five players in double figures en route to their second-highest scoring effort of the season.
West Chester shot an impressive 48.6 percent from the field. Ortman led the way, scoring 19 points. Shamyra Hammond was impressive off the bench, adding 13 points.
That win had allowed West Chester to remain in the tie for first with Bloomsburg, but the loss Saturday to Millersville gave Bloomsburg an advantage. This coming week will see the second game of the two-part season series between West Chester and fierce rivals Bloomsburg, as they will face off next Saturday at Bloomsburg. But first, West Chester will host Kutztown on Wednesday night. Currently, Kutztown sits in second-to-last place in the PSAC East, at a record of 4-12 in conference.
Following those games, West Chester will only have four more matches before the PSAC Tournament begins late this month. If certain things go their way, West Chester could have a playoff berth locked up by this time next week.
Joey Samuel is a third-year student majoring in political science and Spanish. He can be reached at JS719745@wcupa.edu.
Alexandra Lennon plays defense at the top of the key against the Marauders on Saturday. (Brynn Pezzuti/ The Quad)