KUTZTOWN, PA. (January 27, 2010) – The Kutztown University women's basketball team continued its roll by defeating West Chester University, 76-56, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division game Wednesday night at Kesytone Arena. (BOXSCORE)
For the second consecutive game, the Golden Bears raced to an early advantage and cruised to victory. With the win, Kutztown (13-5 overall, 4-1 PSAC East) leads preseason conference favorite West Chester (12-6, 2-3) by two games in the PSAC. The Golden Bears can take over sole possession of second place if they can win at Bloomsburg Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Bears outscored West Chester, 28-16, in the final eight minutes to extend their winning streak to two games.
Kutztown placed four players in double figures led by senior guard Rachel Wisemiller's 19 points (five 3-pointers) and seven rebounds. Senior center Chauntelle Schroeder added 17 points. Junior forward Kristen Murray came off the bench to deliver 16 huge points. Junior guard Melissa McQuade battled her way to 10 points despite playing two minutes in the first half.
West Chester was paced by Renata Neal's 14 points. Janelle Garber finished with 13 points. Allison Hostetter pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with her eight points.
The Golden Bears made 54.2 percent of their shots (32-for-59). Defensively, KU forced West Chester into a 29 percent shooting effort (18-for-62). The Golden Bears also forced WCU into 23 turnovers.
However, on this night, the Golden Bears growled loudest without their leading scorer and rebounder. McQuade barely broke a sweat when she went to the bench with her second foul 99 seconds into the game and Kutztown trailing, 4-2.
Wisemiller quelled any uneasy nerves by playing her personal version of around the world in the opening 20 minutes. Wisemiller scored 14 points to help Kutztown open a 35-24 halftime lead. Schroeder and Murray also combined for 16 points in the first half which helped ease McQuade's loss.
“Rachel had a great first half and Kristen came off the bench and gave us a huge lift,” Kutztown coach Janet Malouf said. “We're beginning to understand that we have to be focused on every play. This is a tough league and we know teams are going to battle back. I thought tonight we did a good job of answering West Chester's run at the start of the second half.”
The Golden Rams scored the first eight points of the second half to slice Kutztown's lead to 35-32. Instead of calling a timeout, Malouf relied on her veteran team to get control of the game. Schroeder scored a layup and Wisemiller dropped a 3-pointer to give Kutztown a 40-32 lead with 16:20 remaining.
West Chester closed to 42-38 with 12:57 remaining following a pair of Garber foul shots. The Golden Rams would get no closer. Once Meredith Starr drilled a jumper from the baseline with 7:43 remaining to give Kutztown a 53-42 lead; the Golden Bears' advantage never dropped below double digits.
Kutztown also received strong contributions from Steph Zewe, who scored her only basket on a reverse layup during a pivotal point of the second half, and Brittany LeVan.
“Our bench was ready to play tonight and it showed,” Malouf said. “I thought Stephanie did a good job of rebounding and defending not about scoring and doing your job abd taking care of . Sometimes, it's not about scoring but doing your job. Whether they are starting or coming off the bench, everybody realizes how important their job is.”
Kutztown visits Bloomsburg in a key PSAC Eastern Division showdown Saturday afternoon beginning at 1 p.m. Fans can hear all of the action on the Golden Bear Radio Network.
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