WEST CHESTER, Pa. – The #22/25 Thomas Jefferson University women's basketball team (5-1) outscored host West Chester (2-2), 51-42, in the second half but could not overcome a poor second quarter, falling to the Golden Rams, 86-81, for their first loss of the season on Saturday.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
WCU opened the contest with four points before the Rams answered with a 16-0 run to take a 12-point lead with 4:52 on the clock. Haley Meinel led the way with 10 points. The score was 20-8 then West Chester ended the quarter with a 10-2 stretch to cut the deficit to four (22-18).
 
WCU carried the momentum into the second, netting the first 11 points of the period to take a 29-22 advantage. After a Meinel jumper, West Chester tallied 13 of the next 17 to increase the margin to 14 (42-28) with 1:28 to go. Overall, WCU shot 55.6% in the frame while limiting Jefferson to just 28.6% from the field. West Chester outscored the Rams, 26-8, during the quarter and took a 44-30 lead into halftime.
 
The two squads went back and forth in the third as neither team was able to put together a long run. WCU led by as many as 15 (65-50) while the Rams were able to close the gap to nine twice, but still trailed by double-digits entering the fourth quarter at 65-54.
 
Jefferson posted four points to begin the final stanza, but West Chester came back with nine of the next 12 for a 74-61 advantage with 6:29 remaining. It was a 12-point difference (77-65) with 4:40 to play before the Rams rallied for 13 of the next 15 points to get within one (79-78) with 3:00 left. Four different players contributed to the run.
 
After each team came up empty on a possession, WCU grabbed two offensive rebounds before making a layup to go up three (81-78) at 1:59. Both sides missed a shot before West Chester came up with a block at the 1:09 mark. Jefferson came up with the board but then WCU recorded a steal. West Chester missed an attempt on the other end but corralled the rebound and drew a foul. The home team converted one free throw to up the lead to four (82-78) with 37 ticks to play.
 
Meinel dropped in a layup to get the Rams within two but that was the closest they would come the rest of the way as WCU went 4-for-4 on its next two trips to the line to finish off the victory.
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Haley Meinel: 28 points on 12-of-19 shooting (4-7 3PT), 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist, 1 block
Sam Yencha: 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block
Morgan Robinson: 13 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals
Emma Kuczynski: 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 steal
 
JEFFERSON AS A TEAM
FG: 35-of-70 (50.0%)
3PT: 5-of-16 (31.3%)
FT: 6-of-12 (50.0%)
 
NOTES
- Jefferson scored 80-plus points in back-to-back games for the first time since January 8-10, 2019.
- West Chester recorded 20 second chance points off 19 offensive rebounds.
- The Rams lost the rebound battle for the first time this season.
 
UP NEXT
Jefferson begins conference play with a home matchup against Chestnut Hill on Wednesday, November 30^th at 8 p.m.