West Chester Fends Off Kutztown In PSAC Quarterfinals, 86-74

Box Score

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Brittany Sicinski scored 23 points and Dallas Ely added 21 as second-seeded West Chester University pulled away late to secure a win over sixth-seeded Kutztown University in the quarterfinal round of the 2014 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Women's Basketball Tournament Tuesday evening inside Hollinger Field House.
 
West Chester (19-8) advances to the conference semifinals for the fifth time in the last seven seasons while avenging last year's loss to Kutztown (10-18) in the first round of the conference tournament. The Golden Rams improve to 14-22 overall in the PSAC Tournament and 3-1 against Kutztown.
 
West Chester will play Edinboro, the Western Division regular-season champion, on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in the second of two semifinal matches on the campus of Edinboro University. The other semifinal will pit the West's second seed, Gannon (26-2) against the East's No. 1 seed and regular-season champion, Bloomsburg (24-3). That game will be played at 1 p.m.
 
The Golden Rams, who trailed 42-36 at halftime, came out of the locker room on a 12-0 run, holding the Golden Bears scoreless for the first two minutes of the second half, to take a 48-42 lead. Sicinski and Jasmen Clark (5 points) each hit a 3-pointer to fuel the spurt.
 
However, Kutztown answered with a 16-8 run over the next nine minutes that saw the visitors take the lead back from the hosts, 58-56, with 9:39 to play.
 
Trailing 61-59, West Chester rebounded with a 13-0 run over a 2:35 span to jump out to an 11-point lead that the Rams would not relinquish the rest of the way. Ely sparked that run with six points and a steal that led to a Sicinski layup on the fast break.
 
The Golden Bears never got any closer than six down the stretch while the Golden Rams stretched their advantage to as many as 15 with one minute left in the contest.
 
Ely grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to record her second double-double of the year. She also turned the trick at Millersville in December. The 11 boards tied her career high – also set against Kutztown back on Feb. 8 in Hollinger Field House.
 
Chikisha Steele-Hook tied her career-high with 14 points. She also grabbed seven rebounds off the bench.
 
West Chester shot 48.6 percent from the floor in the second half (18-for-37). The Rams also made 7 of 19 3-pointers on the night. Kutztown shot just 32.3 percent in the second half (10-for-31) while being outscored 50-32.
 
Kendall Benovy finished with nine points and seven rebounds while Anna Kuntz contributed eight points and five boards.
 
NOTES: West Chester's win over Kutztown marked the third time this year that the Golden Rams have defeated the Golden Bears … West Chester improves to 39-28 all-time against Kutztown … West Chester reaches the PSAC Semifinals for the fifth time in the last seven years and the 13th time overall … West Chester is now 14-22 all-time in the PSAC Tournament and 3-1 against Kutztown … the home team has won all four postseason meetings between these two rivals … So., G Dallas Ely moved past Patti Gruber and into third place on the school's all-time single-season scoring list with 527 points … only Keisha Mack (533) and Mitzi Reitnouer (698) are ahead of her on that chart … Ely now has 754 points in 51 career games … So., G Brittany Sicinski scored her 400th point of the season … it marks the first time that West Chester has had two players score at least 400 points in the same season since Cecilia Rodden and Linda Vidovich did it in 1985-86 … Chikisha Steele-Hook's 14 points tied a career high and marked the third time this season she has scored 14 points in a game.