WCU wins 18th straight game, heads to semis

WEST CHESTER » Week after week, the West Chester women continue to bolster their resume by adding to the most impressive winning streak in the history of a respected basketball program.

The latest was an 81-72 wireto-wire triumph against Kutztown in the quarterfinals of the PSAC Tournament on Wednesday at Hollinger Field House. The Golden Rams were the outright winners of the PSAC Eastern Division regular season crown and have now extended the streak to 18 in a row, and yet the NCAA Division II Selection Committee doesn’t appear all that impressed.

Despite going unblemished since mid-December, the Rams (23-4 overall) have been stalled in the seventh spot in the NCAA Atlantic Regional poll since the rankings debuted three weeks ago. And because the top eight following conference tournament play earn a spot in the NCAA Division II Tournament, WCU inexorably still has work to do.

“We try not to pay attention to that too much. We are just focusing on winning the PSAC so we don’t have any problem getting into the NCAAs,” said Lexis Bruno, who scored a career-high 22 points to lead the way.

The Rams have a big opportunity in the PSAC semifinals on Saturday, where they will face the Edinboro-Cal (Pa.) winner at Indiana (Pa.) for a berth in the title game. But would a loss drop WCU to eighth or lower, or have the Rams already done enough?

“If we go out west and upset somebody, then I guess the committee has to look at us in a different light,” Wooden said. “No matter who we play, we are excited but we are not just satisfied with being there, we want to make some noise.”

The regular season title should help, which is something that fourthseeded Edinboro, No. 5 Virginia State and No. 6 Cal did not do. And so should a 13-point head-to-head November victory over No. 3 Glenville (W.V.) State. But keep in mind that those important accomplishments seemingly haven’t so far.

“It may have been weighing on our team a little today,” Wooden acknowledged. “We knew we had to at least get to the semifinals because the seventh or eighth spot is not a good spot to be in right now in case there are some upsets in other conferences.”

During the streak — which broke a program record dating all the way back to 1972 — the Rams have been winning by an average of 17 points per outing and WCU is now 17-0 against the rest of its division opponents.

On Wednesday in the final home game of the season, the Rams scored 17 of the game’s first 19 points and doubled up the Golden Bears (18-12 overall) at the half 44-22. Similar to its regular season ending win versus Shippensburg a week earlier, WCU experienced a third quarter lapse, but was never seriously challenged despite limping to the finish line.

The Rams turned it over eight times in the quarter and 20 overall, but were plus-nine on the boards and held Kutztown to 38 percent shooting.

“We had mental lapses and committed some turnovers we don’t usually commit,” Bruno explained.

“I don’t like that,” Wooden added. “I like for us to start off fast and finish fast.

“We just did a enough on the defensive end and made just enough plays to come away with the win. But I didn’t think we were crisp, we turned it over too much, so there is some fine tuning we need to do.”

A senior guard, Bruno knocked down six 3-pointers and also led the team with seven assists and four steals. Camden Boehner chipped in 16 points for WCU, while Mia Hopkins and Katherine Fisher each added 12.

“This is, maybe, the best I’ve ever shot from behind the 3-point line, but I’m a little upset about the turnovers (three),” said Bruno, who transferred to West Chester after three seasons at Goldey Beacom (Del.). “My teammates just found me, set some screens and helped me score.

“This team accepted me very quickly and it feels like I’ve been playing with them for a long time.”

Wooden added: “When she is a scoring threat that makes her very dangerous, to go with her passing ability.

”Her basketball IQ is second to none in terms of players that I’ve coached. I just feel like she is hitting her stride.”