Second half surge leads Shippensburg over Kutztown

SHIPPENSBURG, PA (February 20, 2010) - The Kutztown University women's basketball team dropped an 87-75 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division contest to Shippensburg on Saturday afternoon. (BOXSCORE)

The loss clinched the PSAC East championship for Millersville. With two games remaining, the Golden Bears (17-8 overall, 8-4 PSAC East) are a game ahead of Shippensburg (13-14, 7-5) and two ahead of West Chester, Bloomsburg and Cheyney, all of whom have 6-6 conference records.

The Golden Bears can clinch a playoff spot with a win in one of its last two games. They can secure second place and a home playoff game by beating Cheyney on Wednesday and Bloomsburg on Saturday. There are other scenarios, which involve the outcome of Wednesday's Shippensburg-West Chester game, but if KU handles its business on the court then everything will fall into place.

Melissa McQuade dropped 22 points, upping her total to 1,091 in her career which ranks eighth. She shot 9-of-15 from the floor, including three 3-pointers and brought down seven rebounds. Senior Rachel Wisemiller and freshman Ashley Wood added 11 points each. Wood dished out a team-high six assists.Vivian Melvin added nine points and three assists, while Chauntelle Schroeder chipped in with eight points and eight boards.

The first half was a nip-and-tuck affair that featured three ties and four lead changes. Kutztown took a 34-32 lead into halftime. Schroeder made a pair of foul shots with 8 minutes, 54 seconds remaining, to give Kutztown its largest lead of the game, 21-15.

However, the Red Raiders stormed out the break with 7-of-9 shooting and hitting their first three 3-pointers of the second half to take the lead for good. Trailing, 74-60, with 5:17 remaining, the Golden Bears scored nine straight points to cut the Red Raiders' advantage to 74-69 with 2:24 remaining following a Kristen Murray basket.

Shippensburg's Lauren Beckley, who became the all-time leading scorer in PSAC women's basketball history earlier in the week, scored 28 of her game-high 38 points after intermission. Her running mate, Kasey Gardner added 29 points.

Also for Shippensburg, redshirt freshman Caitlin Bamberger solidified the post for Shippensburg with 30 solid minutes of production. In just her second game back from injury, Bamberger made three of her five shots for six points while grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out two assists.

The Golden Bears will travel to Cheyney on Wednesday for a PSAC East showdown starting at 6 p.m.

GOLD RUSH IS COMING!: Kutztown hosts Bloomsburg University for a basketball doubleheader on Saturday, February 27 and invites the community, alumni, students, staff and faculty to “Jam the Gym” – celebrating KU athletics and a successful season for Golden Bear men's and women's basketball squads. The goal is to fill every seat available in Keystone Hall, home to KU basketball.

Fans and friends are encouraged to wear their 'gold' apparel to the final basketball games of the season. At half-time of the men's game, a KU student will be randomly selected to shoot from half-court for a Gold Rush prize of $10,000.

The first-ever Gold Rush begins at noon with a Gold Rush rally for alumni, hosted by the Kutztown University Alumni Association in the Student Recreation Center. The Rush continues with the women's basketball game at 1 p.m. and the men's basketball game at 3 p.m. Tickets are just $5 and are available at the door on game day; KU students, staff and faculty are free.

--KU--

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