WEST CHESTER, Pa. – The Mansfield Mountaineer women's basketball team (9-13, 5-11 PSAC East) almost pulled off a double-digit comeback and took the West Chester Golden Rams (11-12, 8-8 PSAC East) to the final minute on Saturday (Feb. 8) morning, but the host came away with the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division victory by a score of 67-61. 

Katie Sheeler reached her ninth 20+ game of the season, scoring 21 points and grabbing five rebounds. 

Sarah Hortin earned her fourth double-double of the year with ten points and 14 rebounds and Danae Ellzy finished one rebound short of her double-double, posting 15 points and nine boards.

West Chester opened up the contest with a 6-0 start before Ellzy dropped in the first basket for the Mounties.

After the early start, Mansfield cleared the quick stun and only trailed the Golden Rams 17-14 at the end of the first quarter behind Sheeler's seven-point stint. 

To open the second quarter, back-to-back three pointers from Ellzy tied the game at 20 and a Hortin free throw gave the red and black their first lead at 21-20. 

WCU clamped back with 15 straight points to build their largest lead of the contest just before halftime. 

Hortin and Ellzy added much needed baskets to break the streak, but the host remained in control with a 37-28 advantage heading into the locker rooms after their 53.3% (8-15) shooting quarter. 

In the first five minutes of the third quarter, Sheeler scored the first five points for the Mounties as Cydney Stanton and Kenedy Stroup posted their first points of the day to help the Mountaineers cut the lead to 42-40.

After the cold streak of nine straight baskets for West Chester, the host turned it around with the next eight of ten points of the quarter and finished off the back-and-forth runs to keep the Golden Ram lead, holding the 52-45 edge into the final quarter. 

An emphatic start by Mansfield delivered seven of the first nine points of the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, including a deep three from Sheeler to trim the WCU lead to 54-52. 

After a pair of Golden Ram free throws, Stroup sank a corner three to cut the deficit to one at 56-55 with five minutes remaining in the conference clash.

With a 60-57 WCU advantage, Ellzy dropped a three-pointer and a free throw to give Mansfield their first lead since the second quarter at 61-60 at 2:20 remaining in the contest. 

West Chester tied the game with a free throw at 61 before an offensive charge gave the host the chance to regain the lead, sinking a pull-up jumper to make it 63-61 at 1:29 left. 

At 48 seconds on the clock, the Mounties mustered up three shots to no success and sent the Golden Rams into the charity stripe challenge, sinking the needed insurance shots to come away with their Senior Day victory at 67-61.

UP NEXT:
The Mountaineers return to the area for another road battle at Lock Haven on Wednesday (Feb. 12). This PSAC Eastern Division battle is set to tip-off at 5:30 p.m.