KUTZTOWN, Pa. (February 15, 2011) – Life is still wonderful for the Kutztown University women's basketball team even though it lost consecutive contests last week. The Golden Bears don't have to scoreboard watch, peak at any schedules or worry about what Shippensburg is doing. Getting straight to the point; Kutztown controls its playoff fate.
The Golden Bears begin a critical three-game stretch against teams at the bottom of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division with a home game against Cheyney University Wednesday night at Keystone Arena. Game time is 6 p.m.
The Golden Bear women's basketball team will host Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Pink Zone Day to help raise breast cancer awareness. Fans are encouraged to show support by wearing pink at the games.
The Golden Bears will wear pink warm-up T-shirts against Cheyney. As part of the festivities, each fan will receive a pink ribbon upon entering the game.
“We are excited to partner with the WBCA to raise awareness for and support breast cancer,” Kutztown University head women's basketball coach Janet Malouf said. “This is such an important event and we look forward to doing our part to support the WBCA.”
As many people know by now, Kutztown (12-10 overall, 5-5 PSAC East) and Shippensburg (10-12, 5-5) have identical conference records. However, Kutztown has the upper hand because of its season sweep over the Red Raiders. With four games remaining, the math is simple, if Kutztown handles its business and win out; it will head to the playoffs for a third straight season.
Shippensburg starts a three-game road trip with visits to West Chester, Mansfield, and Millersville. The Red Raiders conclude the season at home against East Stroudsburg. Kutztown finishes with away games at East Stroudsburg and Mansfield, and a home finale against Millersville.
Kutztown dropped an 85-70 decision to PSAC East leader Bloomsburg Saturday on the road. Cheyney lost to Shippensburg, 76-51. This is the second stop on a three-game road trip for Cheyney. This is the second meeting of the season between the two teams. Kutztown claimed an 83-61 victory over the Wolves behind guard Ashley Wood (Limerick, PA/Spring-Ford)'s 24 points.
Wood and Melissa McQuade (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) have been a super tandem for the Golden Bears recently. Wood scored 24 points in the loss at Bloomsburg. Wood averages 13.5 points per contest and she has hit for double digits in nine straight contests.
Meanwhile, McQuade is bringing the curtain down on a fabulous career. She scored 17 points at Bloom. McQuade leads KU in scoring (16.2 points per game) and rebounding (9.2). Overall, for her career, she has scored 1,538 points and grabbed 923 rebounds along with 29 double-doubles.
McQuade has owned Cheyney during her career. In seven games against the Wolves, she has averaged 18.1 points and 12.9 rebounds. She also four double-doubles against Cheyney. McQuade scored 13 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in the first meeting against Cheyney on Jan. 31.
Other key Golden Bears include senior guard Meredith Starr (Richmond, VA/Monacan), who averages 6.6 points per game and has 76 assists. Andrea Sisson (Richmond, VA/Godwin), who averages 9.6 points per game, leads Kutztown with 46 3-pointers. Steph Zewe (Lewistown, PA/Indian Valley) has three double-doubles, including a 13-point, 10-rebound effort against West Chester last week. She is averaging 7.7 points per game. In the first meeting against the Wolves, Brittany Le Van tallied 12 points was 4-for-7 from the field and was perfect from the free throw line, making all four attempts.
Cheyney has lost two straight games despite getting stellar efforts from Nadirah Brown, in the Wolves' last two games. She scored 24 points on 9-for-17 shooting and collected four steals against Millersville. Brown recorded a double-double against Shippensburg by finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Linda Henderson and Shakia Canty scored eight points each against the Red Raiders.
Brown leads a balanced Cheyney scoring attack by averaging 13.3 points per game and 8.9 rebounds per contest. Also averaging double digits for Cheyney are Christalee Lynch and Brittany Jenkins, both averaging 11 points per outing. Lynch also averages 7.3 rebounds per outing. Also chipping in 8.0 points per game is Lachelle Miller.
Both teams will be on the road Saturday afternoon. Kutztown goes to East Stroudsburg and Cheyney travels to Bloomsburg. Both games start at 3 p.m.
ABOUT PINK ZONE: The WBCA (Women's Basketball Coaches Association) started the WBCA Pink Zone as an initiative to raise breast cancer awareness in women's basketball on campus and communities. In 2007, more than 120 schools unified for this effort and helped make the inaugural year a success. In 2010, over 1,800 participants came together to surpass $1,045,000 in donations and reach more than 922,000 fans across the nation. Over 22 schools broke attendance records through their participation.
In four years, the WBCA Pink Zone has raised nearly $3.3 million, reached almost 2.7 million fans, and has unified over 4,700 participants.
For more information on the Pink Zone initiative, visit www.wbca.org
