Clayton

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Finishing the regular season with 22 wins, the Shepherd women quickly transitioned to a playoff mode, took one day away from games and readied for the PSAC tournament where they hosted West Chester in the opening round this past Monday.

Possibly in line for an Atlantic Regional tournament game, the Shepherd women saved themselves from leaving an ugly taste in the mouths of the NCAA Division II tournament selection committee in Indianapolis when they posted a close win over Mansfield (Pa.) in their regular season finale on the road. Mansfield won only seven games while losing 19 this season.

In eventually prevailing over the Mountaineers, Shepherd finished with a 16-6 record in the East Division of the PSAC. That record was enough to give the Rams third place in the division and allow them to be at home in the Butcher Center for this past Monday’s tournament games versus the Golden Rams. Shepherd showed the national committee of observers and selectors a 22-6 overall record that included a win over California, the No. 1 team in the West Division of the PSAC.

Should Shepherd have tamed the visiting Golden Rams a third time this season, it would have moved to the quarterfinals last Wednesday against Bloomsburg. Shepherd defeated West Chester by scores of 82-56 and 65-47 during the regular season. West Chester came to Shepherdstown with a 9-18 record.

Mostly led by the scoring of Abby Beeman, Marley McLaughlin and Sydney Clayton, the Rams could conceivably be called to the Atlantic Regional even if they don’t win the PSAC tournament. Beeman, McLaughlin and Clayton usually score anywhere from 70-90 percent of the team’s points. Kutztown, a team that already owns two wins over the Rams, severely limited the teams’ scoring when it employed a triangle-and-two defense against Beeman and McLaughlin, stopping Beeman with only three points and McLaughlin with a 2-for-20 shooting performance from the field.

McLaughlin

Beeman could score only two points in the last game against Mansfield when she was 0-for-9 from the field.

Without Beeman as the dominant Shepherd player — which she usually is — the Rams struggle.

West Chester never employed a triangle-and-two defense against the Rams, and got beaten by 26 points and then at home by 18 points.

The Shepherd men completed a losing season when they dropped their last game of the regular season toansfield, allowing the Mountaineers to win for only the fifth time all season.

Shepherd did qualify as one of the six schools from the East Division to be included in the conference tournament. The Rams were 12-16 overall with a comfortable win at home against Millersville (the No.1 team in the East Division) as the high-water mark for the season. Shepherd’s overall conference record was only 8-14.

Beeman

Each division qualified six teams for the conference tournament. Only three teams from each division missed the postseason firing.

Shepherd and West Chester split their two regular season games, each side winning at home. Because it was the No. 4 seed for the tournament and Shepherd was the No. 5 seed, West Chester was able to host the first round game this past Monday.

Because of its overall record, Shepherd’s season would end if it loses at any time in the conference tournament.