KUTZTOWN, PA (November 30, 2010) – The Kutztown University women's basketball team continues its tour through the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) when it hosts Chestnut Hill College Wednesday night at Keystone Arena beginning at 6 p.m. This concludes the Golden Bears' four-game homestand.
Kutztown (3-1 overall) will host Chestnut Hill (2-2) for a second straight season. The Golden Bears will look to extend their winning streak to four and hand CHC its third straight defeat. Kutztown pulled away to defeat Chestnut Hill, 62-52 last season behind the performances of
Melissa McQuade (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler),
Brittany Greaves (Malvern, PA/Great Valley) and
Kristen Murray (Harrisburg, PA/Trinity), who combined to score 39 points.
After winning five games last season, Chestnut Hill is much improved this season. The Griffins opened the season with consecutive wins over Washington Adventist (90-40) and the University of District of Columbia (69-66). Chestnut Hill has lost two straight contests to Bloomsburg (78-61) and C.W. Post (71-69).
Meanwhile, Kutztown has been rolling since losing its season-opener to nationally-ranked Holy Family. The Golden Bears' average margin of victory has been 24 points. They have trailed for a grand total of three minutes and that was early against Goldey-Beacom. Kutztown has used quick starts to defeat Wilmington and Georgian Court, roaring to double-digit advantages less than five minutes into each contest.
During its three game winning streak, Kutztown has received meaningful contributions from everybody. In the wins over Wilmington and Georgian Court, every KU player who saw action reached the scoring column. McQuade led the Golden Bears in scoring against Wilmington with 18 points.
Ashley Wood (Limerick, PA/Spring-Ford) wowed everybody with a career best 24-point performance against GBC to earn game-high scoring honors.
Andrea Sisson (Richmond, VA/Godwin)'s 13 points were a team-best against Georgian Court.
“We're happy that we're winning games, but we know we still have a lot of work to do as a team,” point guard
Meredith Starr (Richmond, VA/Monacan) said following the Georgian Court game. “We do see improvement every day at practice and during games but we have a long way to go.”
Chestnut Hill should offer a solid challenge as the Griffins' roster features plenty of height, and quickness. In the loss to C.W. Post, four players reached double figures in scoring led by Lindsay Alexander's 20 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Also reaching double digits for Chestnut Hill against C.W. Post was Marquesah Spicer (11 points), Latoya Laing (11), and Cecelia Herald (10).
Alexander is the Griffins' leading scorer (15.0 points per game) and she is second in rebounding (7.3 rebounds per game). Herald chips in 12.3 points per contest. Ebony Washington, a 6-foot center, leads CHC with 7.8 rebounds. Laing has made eight 3-pointers, and Jessica Pruitti has fired in seven treys to lead the team. Defensively, the Griffins only allow 62.5 points per game.
Kutztown hits the road for its next two games beginning Saturday afternoon when it visits University of the Sciences in Philadelphia for a 1 p.m. matinee.
