West Chester, Pa. - After keeping the game close through the first two and a half quarters, the Millersville University women's basketball team took its first lead of the game halfway through the third quarter, but could not maintain it and eventually lost to West Chester, 84-75. Lauren Lister had a strong performance, scoring a team-high 28 points, notching a 52.2 shooting percentage (12-for-23), tallying a game-high four steals and tying a career high in made field goals.

"We just didn't defend well in the fourth quarter," head coach Mary Fleig said. "We weren't able to make the right adjustments."

The Marauders (9-13, 6-9 PSAC) snap a three-game win streak, while the Golden Rams (11-12, 7-8 PSAC) complete the season sweep of Millersville.

Two other Marauders scored in double digits: Samantha Brusha with 17 points and Olivia Mottern with 10. Mottern, Courtney Dimoff and Kendra Bamberger all grabbed a team-high five rebounds, while Dimoff also recorded team highs with four assists and two blocks.

West Chester began the game on a 17-8 run, but the Golden Rams committed eight fouls in the opening quarter and the Marauders were able to finish the period on a 10-5 run, seven of those points coming from Lister. The Golden Rams built up another nine-point lead by the end of the second quarter, but layups from Lister and Chandera Jones-Aryeh sent Millersville into halftime down just five points. 

The Marauders entered the final quarter trailing, 56-52, and West Chester began the fourth period on a 13-7 run to take a 10-point lead, their largest of the night. Millersville was unable to overcome the deficit and lost its eighth-straight game at West Chester.

"West Chester is a great college environment to play in," Fleig said. "I don't think the band or any other noise affected us tonight, but it was good for our younger players to get experience playing in that kind of environment."

The Marauders notched a 46.3 shooting percentage (31-for-67) and the Golden Rams notched a 55 shooting percentage (33-for-60). However, neither team relied on long range shooting, with just six 3-pointers being knocked down in the game and only one from West Chester. Most of the scoring was done in the paint, with 106 of the 159 points in the game coming from close range. The Golden Rams scored 58 points in the paint, while Millersville scored a season-high 48.

The biggest difference came at the line; West Chester shot 73.9 percent (17-for-23) from the charity stripe, while the Marauders shot 38.1 percent (8-for-21). 

"It wasn't one of our better shooting performances, and our defense giving up 84 points is frustrating," Fleig said. "We didn't do a great job defending them and knowing player personnel. Combine that with a lot of missed free throws and it doesn't make for a very successful formula." 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Neither team scored a 3-pointer in the first half. 
• The Golden Rams held a slight edge in rebounds, 37-34.
• West Chester turned the ball over 20 times compared to Millersville's 14 turnovers. The Marauders scored 22 points off those Golden Rams turnovers.
• Millersville held a 15-12 advantage in second chance points and a 13-12 advantage in fast break points.
• Madison Torresin, who scored a game-high 21 points against Millersville earlier this season, continued her Marauder killer ways, scoring a game-high 29 points.

NOTES
• West Chester has now won six-straight games against Millersville, sweeping the season series in each of the last three years.
• Millersville now sits sixth in the PSAC East standings. With the win, the Golden Rams are now tied with Shippensburg for third.

UP NEXT
• The Marauders will face the aforementioned Raiders at Shippensburg on Wednesday, Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. It will conclude a string of four-straight road games for Millersville. 
 

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