Wellington is on a three-game streak of home wins, while Keystone is on a 15-game streak of away wins (dating back to last season): one of those streaks is about to end. The Wellington Dukes will welcome the Keystone Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Saturday, Wellington couldn't have asked for a better start to 2025 than the 53-23 blowout they got against Clearview. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 36-7.
Brooke Lehmkuhl was her usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 18 points and 18 boards. The team also got some help courtesy of Kalynne Pickering, who dropped a double-double on ten points and ten boards.
Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Keystone beat Firelands 45-40 on Saturday. The 45-point effort marked the Wildcats' lowest-scoring game of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.
Keystone's win came from a few key players Wellington will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Madyson Sokolowski, who almost dropped a double-double on 15 points and nine boards. She is on a roll when it comes to rebounds, as she's now pulled down eight or more in the last four games she's played. Another player making a difference was Vivian Cassell, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and ten rebounds.
Keystone smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 12 consecutive matches.
Wellington's victory ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 7-4. As for Keystone, their win bumped their record up to 12-0.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Wellington has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.6 boards per game. However, it's not like Keystone struggles in that department as they've been averaging 39.8 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Wellington suffered a grim 53-28 defeat to Keystone in their previous matchup back in February of 2024. That contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point Wellington was down 32-12.