Box Score



West Chester 86, Kutztown 74 (HTML Box Score) | PSAC Championship Central
 
WEST CHESTER, Pa. – A 13-0 run midway through the second half was too much to overcome for the sixth-seeded Kutztown University women's basketball team as it dropped a 86-74 decision to second-seeded West Chester University in the quarterfinals of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament on Tuesday night at Hollinger Fieldhouse.
 
The Golden Bears (10-18) undoubtedly played hard in Tuesday's night's season-finale to the Golden Rams (19-8). Kutztown led throughout the majority of the first half and by six at halftime, but ran into a heavy full court press from West Chester to start the second half that it did not handle well.
 
"Our team definitely got better as the season went on," head coach Janet Malouf said. "We fought hard and didn't quit. West Chester is a really good team, and I feel we played very well tonight; unfortunately we just did not play well in the second half."
 
Throughout the past week, Kutztown has experienced the far extremes of emotions on the court. As the sixth-seed in the PSAC Tournament, Kutztown upset third-seeded Shippensburg on the road on Saturday after dropping both regular season contests to the Red Raiders. Not only did it secure the team's second straight season with a playoff victory, it earned Malouf her 300th career win, a feat that four other PSAC coaches have ever experienced, including current West Chester coach Dierdre Kane.
 
Notably, Kutztown returns its entire roster for next season and is expected to have four seniors.
 
"Both of these last two games can help us moving forward," Malouf said. "The high of Saturday after beating Shippensburg, and the tough loss we had tonight. We had a lot of young kids playing hard for us and fortunately they were able to get some playoff experience. All we can do now is learn from it and continue to work hard in the offseason."
 
Junior forward Advia Campbell (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape) closed her season by stamping her name in the Kutztown record books. With a game-high five blocks on Tuesday night, she extended her single-season school record to 76 blocks. She led the team with 19 points, and had eight rebounds and five steals. She shot 8-of-13 from the field and played all 40 minutes for the second time all season.
 
Sophomore Natalya Lee (Feasterville, Pa./Rancocas Valley Regional) scored 16 points with a pair of three-pointers. She had a solid all-around game with eight rebounds and a game-high six assists. She also had four steals in 37 minutes of action.
 
Freshman forward Kelsey Watson (Collegeville, Pa./Methacton) was Kutztown's third double-digit scorer with 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds. She helped fuel numerous Kutztown runs in the second half as the team simply was unable to take that final step to potentially overcome its double-digit deficit.
 
Kutztown got off to a strong defensive start and led 8-1 at the first media timeout. It had three steals and a block in the opening minutes and forced seven missed shot attempts from West Chester. Kutztown made four of its final five shots of the half to take a 42-36 lead into the locker room.
 
KU shot 51.4 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, and 32.3 percent in the final 20 minutes.
 
West Chester opened the second half with a 12-0 run in less than two minutes by forcing three Kutztown turnovers and making all five of its shots to take a 46-42 lead. An 18-5 half-opening run extended West Chester's lead to 54-47.
 
KU survived the storm and put together a 9-0 run to retake the lead at 58-56 (9:23). Since KU took a 61-59 lead, however, West Chester went on a 13-0 run to lead 72-61 with 6:10 to play, its largest lead of the game to that point.
 
West Chester had two 20-point scorers in its playoff-opening victory. Brittany Sicinski scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed six rebounds. Dallas Ely notched a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. She also dished out a game-high six assists and played all 40 minutes.
 
Kutztown experienced some exciting moments throughout the season while playing with a young squad. It competed with no seniors, and often played with numerous freshmen on the court. Despite the setback, the Golden Bears are certainly heading in the right direction and should be a contender in the coming season.