KUTZTOWN, Pa. (January 18, 2011) – The Kutztown University women's basketball team heads to Hollinger Fieldhouse for a clash against West Chester University Wednesday evening looking to bounce back from its setback last Saturday against Bloomsburg University. Tip-off is at 6 p.m.

 

The Golden Bears (8-6 overall, 1-1 PSAC East) will try to continue their recent success against the Golden Rams (11-3, 2-0). Kutztown has defeated West Chester four straight times. In the last meeting at West Chester on Feb. 17, 2010, the Golden Bears finished the game with a 16-2 run to post a 65-56 victory.

 

Kutztown is facing a formidable task in trying to win at Hollinger Fieldhouse for the third consecutive year. West Chester is 7-1 at home and off to its best start to a season since the 2000-01 season. The Golden Rams also received six votes in this week's Women's Basketball Coaches' Association (WBCA) top 25 poll.

 

While Kutztown is focused on enjoying a perfect week, the next few days could also be memorable for senior forward Melissa McQuade (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler), who is on the cusp of a pair of school-records. McQuade enters the West Chester game with 840 career rebounds. She needs two to pass Mercedes Van Wagner and become the all-time leader in that category. With 1,397 points, McQuade is also 38 points away from passing Amy Wahl and becoming the all-time scoring leader.

 

Furthermore, as a huge Pittsburgh Steeler fan, McQuade could really be celebrating if the Steelers knock off the Jets Sunday night and advance to the Super Bowl. She has been the Golden Bears' version of Troy Polamalu. Come to think of it, they probably share the same hair length as well. Both players are difference-makers, leaders, game-changers and the heartbeats of their respective teams.

 

Fundamentally sound and genetically gifted, McQuade has never concerned herself with statistics. She knows she leads the Golden Bears in scoring (16.5) and rebounding (8.6), but the numbers that fill her with the most pride is her 3.96 grade point average. An outstanding all-around student-athlete, McQuade was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee during the 2009-10 season.

 

She is coming off a monster 30-point, 15-rebound performance in Kutztown's 87-84 loss to Bloomsburg. The 30 points tied her career high. Kutztown played without one of McQuade's partners-in-crime Kristen Murray (Harrisburg, PA/Trinity). While McQuade stood out against the Huskies, freshman Andrea Sisson (Richmond, VA/Godwin) delivered a career-high 17 points and energetic sophomore Ashley Wood (Limerick, PA/Spring-Ford) added 15 points.

 

The Golden Bears definitely have a tall challenge, literally, in front of them as they confront 6 foot, 1 inch WCU sophomore Alex Lennon, who earned her third PSAC East athlete of the week award. In victories over Mansfield and East Stroudsburg, Lennon averaged 15.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks.

The sophomore shot an impressive 73 percent from the floor (14-of-19) and also made 3-of-5 free throws. Lennon started the week with 14 points, five rebounds and three blocks in Wednesday's win over Mansfield. She then had a perfect day from the field as she hit all eight of her shots and finished with 17 points and nine boards as well as five blocks and three steals in Saturday's win over East Stroudsburg.

Lennon was also named PSAC athlete of the week in back-to-back weeks on Dec. 6 and Dec. 13. She leads the Golden Rams in scoring this winter with a 14.4 points per game average, which is also good for eighth in the PSAC. She ranks second in the PSAC with 34 blocked shots and is second in the conference in field goal percentage (.583).

Lennon has reached double figures in the scoring column in each of West Chester's last five games. While Lennon has been dominant inside, Allison Hostetter and Megan Stewart have lit up opposing defenses from the outside. Hostetter is averaging 13.4 points per game and Stewart, who leads WCU with 18 3-pointers, chips in 12.9 points. Hostetter also leads the Golden Rams in rebounding (9.5).

 

Both teams continue conference play Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. Kutztown hosts East Stroudsburg and West Chester visits Millersville in a PSAC playoff rematch.

 

--KU--