Kutztown University Athletics

Tony Vasquez

Women's Basketball 02.23.11 By Britney D. Reddick, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Third time's a charm; KU returning to PSAC East playoffs with 73-59 win over Mansfield

MANSFIELD, Pa. (February 23, 2011)—The Kutztown University women's basketball team stamped its name on a return ticket to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division playoffs with a 73-59 win over Mansfield University Wednesday evening at Decker Gym. (BOXSCORE)

The Golden Bears improved to 15-11 overall and 8-6 in the PSAC East. The Mountaineers fell to 6-19, 1-12. Kutztown will be making its third consecutive appearance to the big show and will most likely travel to Bloomsburg to play the Huskies Tuesday, March 1. KU's three and a half hour bus ride won't be a long one as it has much to celebrate.

But before the Golden Bears get too excited, they still have business to handle with Millersville University in its regular season finale at Keystone Arena. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Even though Mansfield was hosting it's “Black Out” night, the Golden Bears added lots of color and continued to light up the scoreboard. KU had a dominating first half but the Mountaineers tried everything they could to slice the Golden Bears' 42-17 halftime lead. Mansfield spent the second half cutting the lead, and got its closest reach to Kutztown, 71-59, with one minute, 21 seconds remaining.

Melissa McQuade (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) recorded her seventh double-double of the season. McQuade had a team-high 27 points and 11 rebounds. She knocked down three 3-pointers was 11-for-18 from the field.

Meredith Starr (Richmond, VA/Monacan), Ashley Wood (Limerick, PA/Spring-Ford), and Steph Zewe (Lewistown, PA/Indian Valley) all reached double figures in scoring for KU. Starr finished with 11 points and a team-high eight assists. Wood recorded 13 points and Zewe had 10 points.

Kutztown had an impressive shooting exhibition during the first half as it shot 17-for-33 from the field, was 4-for-8 from 3-point range, and was perfect from the free throw line. It was clear that the Golden Bears had no intentions of making it an easy game as they went on a 10-0 run, beginning with a McQuade 3-pointer with 19:18 remaining. KU kept the Mountaineers scoreless for nine minutes, until Sydnee Reeves hit a jumper for MU, making it 19-5.

“Our main focus was to come out strong,” Starr said. “In the past, we've usually played bad. We know that Mansfield's crowd is intense and we knew we had to shut them down from the beginning.”

The Golden Bears used efforts from everyone and was using every inch of the court to their advantage.

Mansfield was led by Mallory Moore as she finished with 19 points. Also in double figures in scoring for the Mountaineers was Megan Touhey with 13.

If KU takes the intensity from this game and uses it in the remaining games, it has the potential to be unstoppable. The Golden Bears proved that they can contest with anyone, but it will take a team effort for KU to push through.

“It's amazing to make another trip to the playoffs,” Starr said. “It's not an easy thing to do and it is such a blessing. Getting past the first round and shutting down Bloomsburg's shooters will be our biggest task but we know we are capable of doing that.”

Print Friendly Version