ESU-West Chester Women's Basketball

East Stroudsburg, Pa. - Beaten by the same team by 48 points last week, East Stroudsburg battled nationally-ranked West Chester down to the wire before falling, 73-66, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division women's basketball game Wednesday night.

It wasn't the same ESU team which bowed the Lady Rams, 89-41, eight days ago or frankly, the same ESU team which entered the game with a 5-20 record.

A major difference was the play of freshmen Dana Thompson and Heather Wolfe, both of whom scored in double figures for the first time. The Warriors also were deadly from the foul line, converting 25 of their 27 shots.

Thompson, a 5-10 forward from New Egypt, N.J., had a perfect shooting night, making three field goals and six free throws for 12 points. More significant, however, were her team season high 16 rebounds, ten on the defensive boards and six on the offense. Her previous highs had been seven points and five rebounds.

Wolfe took team scoring honors with 13 points, making three of six shots from the floor and seven of eight foul shots. She had scored nine points once earlier this season.

West Chester, ranked 23rd in this week's NCAA Division II national poll, seemingly had the game in hand with a 34-22 halftime lead and then a 48-28 advantage with 15:15 remaining.

The Warriors clawed back, however, first with an 13-2 run with Wolfe scoring seven of the points to get it back under ten at 50-41 with 9:15 left. They later had a six-point streak to cut the deficit to only five points, 66-61, with 1:22 to go.

The closest they came was four points at 68-64 on Steph Kuhn's third 3-pointer of the game with 40 seconds left. But the Golden Rams wrapped up the victory with five free throws, three by Amy MacDonald and two by Amy Buda, in the final 31 seconds.

MacDonald took game scoring honors with 17 points while Buda and Kiera Manlove added 13 apiece.

Hutchison, playing her final college game, also had a double-double with 12 points and ten rebounds. Kuhn, the team's only other senior, added nine points.

West Chester raised its record to 22-3 and its PSAC mark to 10-1. ESU finished 5-21 overall and 2-9 in the conference.

Mack 1 0-0 2, Buda 5 2-2 13, Rozich 0 0-0 0, Palmer 1 0-0 2, Kling 2 0-0 4, De Young 3 0-0 8, MacDonald 4 8-9 17, Roulin 5 0-1 10, Manlove 6 1-4 13, Voorhees 0 2-2 2, Muldoon 1 0-0 2. Totals: 28 13-18 73

Ross 3 1-2 7, Thompson 3 6-6 12, Wolfe 3 7-8 13, Kuhn 3 0-0 9, Pilenza 3 1-1 7, Garlach 1 2-2 4, Helt 1 0-0 2, Hutchison 2 8-8 12, Kraft 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 25-27 66

Three Point Goals: ESU - Kuhn 3; WC - De Young 2, MacDonald, Buda

Halftime: West Chester, 34-22