KUTZTOWN, PA (February 19, 2010) – The Kutztown University women's basketball team continues its four-game road trip with a matchup at streaking Shippensburg Saturday afternoon at Herges Fieldhouse beginning at 1 p.m.
Kutztown (17-7 overall, 8-3 PSAC East) has won the first two games of this arduous trip. Winners of seven of their last nine games, the Golden Bears are focused on the treats at the end of this yellow-brick road. Simply put, if Kutztown wins two of its final three games, the Golden Bears will host a first round PSAC quarterfinal game on Tuesday March 2.
As a certain young character once said, “There's no place like home.”
Kutztown will clinch a playoff spot with a win against Shippensburg (13-14, 6-5). The Golden Bears have a comfortable two-game advantage over West Chester, Bloomsburg and Shippensburg in the race for second place. If things break their way, the Golden Bears could have the No. 2 seed all to themselves by the time the sun sets Saturday.
“That would be huge for us,” junior guard Meredith Starr said on the postgame radio show following the West Chester game. “We played at Millersville last year in the first round and we saw how much home court meant. So we are definitely all focused on getting a playoff game.”
Kutztown still has a spaghetti-thin chance of winning the PSAC East regular season title. However, the math or schedule is not in its favor. For Kutztown to win the regular season crown, it would have to win its final three games against Shippensburg, Cheyney and Bloomsburg and have Millersville lose all of its games against Bloomsburg, East Stroudsburg and Mansfield.
As additional motivation for a strong Kutztown finish is should it win its final three contests, it will win 20 games in a season for the fifth time in program history. It would also be the first time in women's basketball history that it has won 20 games in consecutive years.
“That would be a nice reward for all of the hard work and sacrifices of everybody on our team,” senior guard Vivian Melvin said. “We know we have a lot of work ahead of us but we are excited about the position we are in to do some special things.”
Kutztown will face a player who recently accomplished something major. Shippensburg is fueled by the highest scoring duo in the PSAC in Lauren Beckley and Kasey Gardener. They have combined to score 39.1 points per game. However, Beckley has been the center of attention recently for Shippensburg. The conference's leading scorer at 20.9 scored 43 points in her last outing during a 72-67 victory at Bloomsburg to become the all-time leading scorer in PSAC history.
Beckley now has 2,316 points. She passed Cheyney's Valerie Walker (1978-82) mark of 2,289 points. Beckley also tied a school record on Wednesday night by making 21-of-25 free throws. Beckley has reached double digits in 105 of 110 career games.
In the first meeting, Kutztown cruised to an 82-65 victory over the Red Raiders.
Junior forward Melissa McQuade scored a team-high 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Senior center Chauntelle Schroeder (Toronto, Ontario, CANADA/Mother Teresa) made her first seven shots to finish with 14 points. She scored 12 points after intermission. Senior guard Rachel Wisemiller (Hazleton, PA/Hazleton Area) also added 14 points along with a team-high seven rebounds.
The tandem of junior Kristen Murray (Harrisburg, PA/Trinity) and energetic freshman Ashley Wood (Limerick, PA/Spring-Ford) sparked an impressive outing from the Golden Bear reserves by combining for 21 points. Murray scored 11 points. Wood scored eight of her 10 points in the first half. Directing the Golden Bears strong offensive effort was Melvin, who delivered a game-high seven assists. Overall, Kutztown shot 50.9 percent for the game (29-for-57).
Defensively, the Golden Bears limited Beckley and Gardner to 36 harmless points. Gardner scored 16 of her game-high 21 points in the second half. Beckley finished with 15 points. Caitlin Bamberger collected a double-double for the Red Raiders (8-12, 1-3) with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Beckley also finished with eight rebounds.
However, since that defeat, the Red Raiders have been rolling, winning five of their last seven games. Beckley has scored 30 or more points in two of Ship's last three games. Beckley scored 33 against East Stroudsburg last Saturday. Ship is 7-2 at home this year.
The Golden Bears have enjoyed the road this season, posting an 8-3 record away from Keystone Arena. In their 65-56 victory at West Chester Wednesday, the Golden Bears finished the game with a 16-2 run over the final 5 minutes, 53 seconds. McQuade (18 points, 10 rebounds) and Schroeder (11 points, 10 rebounds) each posted double-doubles. Wisemiller finished with 10 points, raising her career point total to 961.
“We are looking forward to the final three games and we welcome the challenge that's in front of us,” Melvin said. “Everybody is focused on finishing strong and winning as many games as possible.”
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