Ladies look to recover against rival Golden Rams

What: West Chester University @ Kutztown Golden Bears
When: Saturday, February 9, 2008 @ 1 p.m.
Where: Keystone Hall on the campus of Kutztown University

The KU women’s basketball team will head into this Saturday’s bout with West Chester in need of a big win. The Golden Bears (9-12, 2-4) have lost two straight and are currently on the outside looking in at the PSAC East playoff picture. KU opened divisional play with a win over Mansfield, but has since won just one of its five games, including two recent heartbreaking losses against Cheyney and East Stroudsburg.

West Chester (12-8, 4-2), meanwhile, is coming off a 73-63 loss to division-leading Millersville, but the Golden Rams have already knocked KU off once this season.

Back on Jan. 19, the Golden Bears headed to West Chester looking to improve to 2-0 in the division. The Rams had KU’s number, however, and handled them relatively easy by a score of 68-56. Rachel Weidensaul had a huge day for the Golden Bears, dropping a career-high 23 points, but it was not enough for the win.

An upset by KU would put them right back in the thick of things in the playoff race, while a loss would but them in an even deeper hole.

Probable Starters:

West Chester:
F- # 25 – Janelle Garber
F- # 13 – Megan Stewart
G- # 12 – Dana Weems
G- #10 – Lindsay Weller
G- # 23 – Catherine Andrews

Kutztown:
C- # 53 – Mercedes Van Wagner
F- # 23 – Melissa McQuade
F- # 15 – Rachel Weidensaul
G- # 13 – Meredith Starr
G- # 5 – Lara Dellegrotti

Scouting Report:
Despite a season-ending injury to their best player, Katie Kline, West Chester has been able to keep up in the highly competitive PSAC East. The last time these two teams met, four Golden Rams scored in the double digits, leading WCU to the convincing win.

The Golden Bears will need to win the one-on-one matchups if they want to earn the victory this time around on their home floor. KU was out-rebounded 48-41 and allowed the Rams to shoot over 40 percent in the first meeting. Also of note was KU’s 3-of-12 performance from the free throw line in that game.

KU will need to focus there attention on Dana Weems. Weems has been the go-to scorer for the Golden Rams as of late, leading them in scoring in 5 of their last 7 games. She scored 12 points and grabbed 12 boards in the first meeting.

Weidensaul was sensational the first time around, but she had little help. Melissa McQuade has been the majority scorer as of late for KU, but, again, she has done most of the scoring by herself. The Golden Bears will need to spread the ball around and get production from all of their scorers, particularly Weidensaul, McQuade, Van Wagner, and Dellegrotti.

Prediction:
As much as I’d like to pick KU to pull off the upset, they’ve given me little to work worth to make that case. The Golden Bears have had a hard time finishing games and, unless adjustments are made, there is little reason to believe that will change on Saturday. KU will stay close in the first half, but the Golden Rams, clearly the better team in the first meeting, will pull out the win down the stretch. Expect Weidensaul and Van Wagner to provide a bulk of the scoring, but it won’t be enough.

WCU 69
KUTZTOWN 61