MANSFIELD – Sophomore center Mia Leonard led the Mansfield Mountaineers women's basketball team with 15 points and eight rebounds in a 62-43 setback to West Chester in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference play at First Citizens Community Bank Court in Decker Gymnasium on Wednesday evening.
 
West Chester (6-10, 2-6 PSAC) raced out to an early 6-0 lead in the first 1:11 of regulation. Through the first quarter, Leonard scored seven of her points, Erin Gibbons added another trifecta with two assists, McKenzie Hatch pulled down two rebounds and dished out two assists, and Noelle Cameron connected on a jumper and recorded three rebounds.  Mansfield found a run, outscoring the Golden Rams 7-5 over the next four minutes.
 
The Mountaineers (0-11, 0-7 PSAC) were hanging tough with a solid West Chester team. Entering halftime there was only an eight point difference. The first three quarters were each separated by five or fewer points, giving the Mounties hope heading into the fourth quarter. 
 
The final 10 minutes saw West Chester hold Mansfield to just six points, thwarting their comeback effort, and leading to their second consecutive win. The Golden Rams shut down the Mounties' leading scorer Gibbons in the second half. 30 points in the paint and a sizeable 21-4 points off of turnovers margin contributed to the visitors' victory.
 
In addition to Leonard's team-high numbers, Gibbons (8pts/4ast/4reb), Hatch (5pts/3ast/4reb), and Cameron (6pts/5reb) were leaders in scoring and on the boards for Mansfield. Paige Whitfield pulled down three rebounds and dished out two assists to go with her two points.
 
Madison Mattas put a nice move on a defender in the paint and connected with a floater in the first half. Sydney Reed also added two points, and dished out an additional three assists, which is her career-high.  Kira Merritt rounded out the scoring for Mansfield, adding an assist and hitting a 3-pointer in her only shot of the night.
 
West Chester's Madison Torresin led all scorers with 18 points on the night. Gabrielle Troisi led the visiting team in rebounds (9) and assists (6). Freshman Zhane Snow scored 16 points while Katherine Fisher finished with 15 points of her own.
 
Mansfield hits the road for their next matchup at Millersville University on Saturday, January 12^th. Tipoff is at 1 p.m. in Pucillo Gymnasium; Live coverage will be available.