KUTZTOWN, Pa. (February 6, 2011) – Kutztown University's Melissa McQuade (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) was in a great mood until halftime arrived with her team trailing by seven points.(BOXSCORE)
The senior forward unleashed her fury during a second half performance to cherish to help the Golden Bears rally for a huge 79-68 victory over Shippensburg University in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division game Sunday afternoon.
McQuade took control of the game after intermission like her beloved Pittsburgh Steelers did in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XIV against the Los Angeles Rams by scoring 22 of her game-high 26 points. She packed many of her points into a devastating and breathtaking 21-2 run to start the second half that gave Kutztown control of the game for good.
“I think that was the best second half we played as a team this year,” said McQuade, who was sporting a Jerome Bettis jersey during her postgame interview. “Everybody contributed in the second half, we buckled down on defense and it was just awesome.”
The Golden Bears (12-8 overall, 5-3 PSAC East) dazzled from deep with a 3-point shooting display that lit up Keystone Arena, buried the Red Raiders, and helped KU extend its winning streak to three games. Kutztown finished with 14 3-pointers, tying a school record established in 2002 against Lock Haven.
Ashley Wood (Limerick, PA/Spring-Ford) reached double figures in scoring for the seventh straight game as she tallied 16 points. Meredith Starr (Richmond, VA/Monacan) started KU's 3-point assault by making all four of her 3-pointers in the opening half as she tied her career-high with14 points. Wood also made four 3-pointers.
McQuade made all three of her 3-pointers during the game-altering burst that ended with teammate Steph Zewe (Lewistown, PA/Indian Valley) waving the gold “Terrible Towel” sitting on the KU bench in approval.
Jackie Burg (West Chester, PA/Bishop Shanahan) made a pair of huge 3-pointers in the first half during her eight-minute stint. Kutztown made more three's in this game than the Steelers did in their first seven Super Bowl appearances combined.
The highlight of Kutztown's burst was the 16 consecutive points it scored after trailing, 42-38 with 18 minutes, 7 seconds remaining. McQuade started the surge with consecutive 3-pointers. Her second triple gave KU the lead for good, 44-42, with 16:54 remaining. Wood capped the burst by burying a 3-pointer from the left wing with 14:13 remaining. Her basket gave the Golden Bears their largest lead of the contest, 54-42.
Led by Brittany Le Van, Kutztown's defense resembled the Steel Curtain in the first eight minutes of the second half.
“This was an awesome job by our team in the second half,” Kutztown head coach Janet Malouf said. “The kids really did a great job, gutted it out and played tough. We wanted to make sure we took care of the defensive end to start the second half because we knew we had to get stops if we were going to get back into the game.”
More importantly, the victory enabled Kutztown to secure the all-important tiebreaker over Shippensburg in case the teams finish with the same record at the end of the season. With six games remaining, the Golden Bears appear to be finding groove at the perfect time. Kutztown trails Bloomsburg (7-1 PSAC), Millersville (6-2) and West Chester (6-2) in the conference standings with six games remaining. KU plays all three teams so things could get interesting.
“We're beginning to find the right chemistry and kids are beginning to learn their roles,” Malouf said. “We're not even in the playoffs right now. We're going to take everything one step at a time and keep going from there. It's nice we have the tiebreaker over Shippensburg, but we're hoping that it doesn't come down to that.”
Shippensburg bullied its way to a 40-33 halftime advantage behind Monet Baker and Shawna Wert, who combined for 21 points. The Red Raiders outscored Kutztown, 15-8 in the final 6:39 of the first half to open their halftime advantage.
The Red Raiders had four players reach double digits led by Kasey Gardner's 19 points. Wert had 18 points. Lindsay Howard and Monae Baker finished with 11 points each. Dana Wert handed out 10 assists for the Red Raiders.
Kutztown returns to action Wednesday evening when it hosts West Chester University beginning at 6 p.m.
--KU--
