KUTZTOWN, Pa. (February 22, 2011) – When the Kutztown University women's basketball team gathered for its first workout in October, veteran head coach Janet Malouf had a full complement of bodies on hand. The rotations were set. The Golden Bears had a strong nucleus of returning seniors and some talented incoming freshman.
Then ankles creaked and backs cracked. The rotation got scrambled like an egg. Suddenly, the amount of Kutztown healthy bodies started shrinking like the end of an “America's Next Top Model” episode when the contestants are eliminated and airbrushed off the screen. Yet through all of the aches, pains, sprains, strains, bumps and bruises, the Golden Bears have shown plenty of persistence, character and resilience.
They say, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. Well, the Golden Bears are stronger than a concrete barrier as they head into their final week of the regular season.
Despite everything it has endured this year, Kutztown is on the doorstep of clinching a playoff spot for the third straight season. The Golden Bears can punch the final ticket to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) playoffs with a victory over Mansfield University Wednesday night at Decker Gym in an Eastern Division game beginning at 5:30 p.m. Fans can listen to all of the action on www.redzonemedia.com.
Kutztown beat Mansfield, 76-44, on Feb. 3 at Keystone Arena. However, the Mountaineers are a different team at home as the Golden Bears learned last season when they needed two overtimes to escape Decker Gym with an 86-73 victory.
“The team hasn't given up on the season or their teammates this season,” Malouf said. “They are making the most out of the hand they've been dealt.”
The first blow was freshman Alyssa Bonenberger (Walnutport, PA/Northampton Area) not being able to play a minute this season. She was one of the Golden Bears' top recruits. Next came what ultimately proved to a key injury to senior Kristen Murray (Harrisburg, PA/Trinity), who has played two PSAC East games this year. Her loss robbed the Golden Bears of a consistent scorer, strong defender and leader. The final injury happened to freshman Sharele Anderson (Clayton, NJ/Clayton), another highly-touted recruit.
Fortunately for Kutztown this season, its triumvirate of senior Melissa McQuade (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler), senior Meredith Starr (Richmond, VA/Monacan) and sophomore guard Ashley Wood (Limerick, PA/Spring-Ford) have flourished and are reasons why West Chester, Millersville or Bloomsburg won't be happy to see the Golden Bears show up to their campus when the playoffs start.
McQuade leads the Golden Bears in scoring (16.9 points per game) and rebounding (8.9). In addition, McQuade leads KU in steals, blocked shots and assists. She has scored 1,573 points and grabbed 934 rebounds in her fabulous career. Averaging 14.0 points per game, Wood has scored in double figures in 10 straight games. She scored 21 points in Kutztown's 61-42 win over East Stroudsburg last Saturday.
However, players like junior Brittany LeVan (Centre Hall, PA/Penns Valley), junior Brittany Greaves (Malvern, PA/Great Valley), sophomore Melanie Mahan (Mullica Hill, NJ/Clearview Regional), sophomore Jackie Burg (West Chester, PA/Bishop Shanahan), sophomore Steph Zewe (Lewistown, PA/Indian Valley), freshman Leah Hawk (Carlisle, PA/Cumberland Valley), freshman Andrea Sisson (Richmond, VA/Godwin) and freshman Avery Hodgson (Surf City, NJ/Southern Regional) have all found ways to contribute throughout the season.
Sisson and Hodgson are playing more minutes than probably Malouf had envisioned at the start of the year. They have responded and are the future of the women's basketball program.
“It's been very tough to deal with the injuries to the freshmen class this season,” Malouf said. “We were counting on Sharele and Alyssa to help us and get quality minutes as freshmen to get them ready for significant minutes as sophomores along with Avery and Andrea. The good thing is they have seen what it's like in the league from a spectator standpoint and what practice entails, but the actual competition and game situations, next year will be like a freshman season for them again.”
Averaging 9.4 points per game, Sisson leads the Golden Bears with 51 3-pointers. She was named PSAC East Freshman of the Week on Jan. 31. Sisson has reached double figures 11 times this season and has provided a spark off the bench. Hodgson is averaging 8.8 minutes per game and 3.5 points. She's shown tremendous improvement from the start of the season. Hodgson has scored in double figures three times and scored a career-high 13 points against Mercyhurst.
“Avery and Andrea have had some very good games this year and are learning a great deal with on the job training this season,” Malouf said. “They have both been very helpful to the success of our team and will be part of the foundation of the future teams at KU. They are great kids and work hard both on the court and in the classroom. I believe the future is very bright for them if they continue to improve and work hard.”
For Mansfield, seniors Nicole Pender and Tegan Atallah will be looking to finish with a bang as they play their final game in Decker Gym. In Mansfield's 65-56 loss to Shippensburg Saturday, 1,000-point scorer Mallory Moore led the Mountaineers with 19 points. She has 1,032 career points. Julia Stevenson recorded eight points and brought down six rebounds. Pender added seven points and dished out four assists.
Moore leads Mansfield in scoring at 16.2 points per game and rebounding at 8.2 per game. Jena Matter scores at a 7.3 point per game clip and Pender, who leads MU with 112 assists, chips in 7.1 points. Last season against Kutztown at Decker Gym, Pender scored 17 points and had seven rebounds. Five of Mansfield's six wins have come at home.
Kutztown finishes its regular season schedule with a home game against Millersville University. Mansfield visits Cheyney University. Both games begin at 1 p.m.
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