Second-half comeback propels LHU Women’s Basketball to 12th straight victory, downs #21 West Chester in OT

LOCK HAVEN– The Lock Haven women’s basketball team overcame a 12-point first half deficit to take down the No. 21 team in the country West Chester University, 79-76, in overtime, to improve to 7-0 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).

In their PSAC East opener, the Bald Eagles knocked off their second nationally-ranked opponent of the season after downing No. 13 Cal U on Dec. 19. Lock Haven also snapped a six-game skid against the Golden Rams, dating back to 2020.

The Bald Eagles (12-1, 7-0 PSAC) are just one victory away from tying the program record for consecutive wins set in 1984-85 when The Haven went on a stretch of 13 straight.

The 7-0 start in PSAC play is the best in program history. Lock Haven moves three games ahead the second-place team in the East.

West Chester falls to 8-5 overall and 3-4 in the PSAC.

The comeback victory was powered by a career day from Jenadia Jordan (York, Pa./Linden Hall), who scored a career-high 29 points (9-of-20). Jordan scored 26 points in the second half alone and finished 4-of-8 from three and 7-of-11 from the foul line on the day.

Alana Robinson (Rockaway, N.J./Pope John Paul II) capped off another dominate week on both ends of the court as she secured a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double to go with four steals, four assists and four blocks.

Rhlyn Rouse (York, Pa./York Tech) continues to spark The Haven off the bench, as she poured in 13 points and pulled in seven rebounds, while making key plays down the stretch.

Taylor Leidy (Alexandria, Pa./Juniata Valley) finished in double figures with 10 points and Madeline Evans (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg) added seven rebounds.

Lock Haven matched West Chester with 17 points in the second quarter, but the Bald Eagles trailed 18-6 after the first period to head into the break down 35-23. Lock Haven shot just 11 percent from the floor in the first quarter, but rebounded to knock down 6-of-12 shots in the second period to build momentum.

After scoring just three points in the first half, Jordan came to life and dropped 26 second-half points to will The Haven to victory.

Jordan knocked down four consecutive shots behind the arch with her fourth trifecta giving Lock Haven its first lead of the game (46-44) with 1:06 remaining in the third period.

The Haven defense was also a driving factor as they forced West Chester to shoot just 28 percent from the floor in the second half.

However, a Lock Haven cold spell to open the fourth quarter allowed the Golden Rams to rebuild their lead to 55-49 with seven minutes remaining in regulation.

The Bald Eagles looked inside to Robinson, who scored six straight points to spark a 7-0 run to put The Haven back on top, 58-57, with three minutes to go.

The teams traded baskets over the next five possessions before Jordan connected on the game-tying layup (63-63) with 26 seconds remaining to ultimately send the game to overtime.

Rhouse scored the first basket of overtime to give the Bald Eagles the lead and they would not relinquish after going 4-of-4 from 3-point land, while knocking down 7-of-9 foul shots and receiving 12 points from Jordan.

NEXT UP

The Bald Eagles return to the court on Wednesday, Jan. 10 when they hit the road for a PSAC East showdown at 5:30 p.m. at Kutztown.