KUTZTOWN, Pa. (January 11, 2012)—The Kutztown University women's basketball team displayed fight and heart as it fell to West Chester University, 78-73 in its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East Division opener, Wednesday night at Keystone Arena.

The Golden Bears (4-11 overall, 2-7 PSAC) played one of its best games of the 2011-12 season that utilized complete team efforts. KU placed four players in double figures and despite its loss, it's taking valuable lessons away from the game. West Chester improved to 10-3 overall and 6-3 in the PSAC.

Kutztown had an explosive first half where it shot 52.9 percent from the field and 55.6 percent from behind the arc. The Golden Bears took the 42-36 lead over West Chester at intermission.

The Golden Rams used a jumper from Alex Lennon with 18 minutes, eight seconds remaining in the second half to tie the game 44-44. However the Golden Bears took reign again and jumped to their largest lead of the second half after sophomore Andrea Sisson (Richmond, VA/Godwin) (Richmond, VA./Godwim) made a pair of free-throws to put KU up 57-48 with 12:57 left.

WCU began to close in on Kutztown as Jillian Keefer hit a pair of back-to-back 3-pointers to give West Chester a 62-57 advantage and its first lead of the second half with 10:17 remaining.  The Golden Rams continued to stay a step above Kutztown but KU continued to apply pressure to WCU. Sisson who was 5-for-10 from 3-point range used her skills to sink a 3-pointer to slice WCU's advantage to 67-66.

Sophomore Avery Hodgson (Surf City, NJ/Southern Regional) (Surf City, NJ./ Southern Regional) who was phenomenal against West Chester used a pair of free throws that left KU down 72-71 with 1:45 left. West Chester benefited from KU's fouls that would allow it to pull away and close out the game. 

Hodgson finished with a team-high 18 points. Hodgson was 6-for-10 from the field and didn't disappoint as the PSAC's best free throw shooter as she was 6-for-6 from the line.

“We played more as a team today,” Hodgson said. “We have to continue to play hard each second. If we take this performance into our next game, I'm confident that we'll have a different result."

Sisson finished with 17 points as the Golden Bears continued to find her open shots. Sisson was one 3-pointer away from tying her career-high of six in a game. She was 5-for-12 from the field and had a team-high four steals.

“We're finally coming together and becoming one,” Sisson said. “We're a young team and now that we're used to each other we are beginning to gel.”

Freshman Advia Campbell (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape) (Mount Laurel, NJ./Lenape) tied her career-high 12 points against the Golden Rams. Campbell was 5-for-6 from the field and continues to blossom in the maroon and gold.

Junior Ashley Wood (Limerick, PA/Spring-Ford) (Limerick, PA./Spring-Ford) recorded 11 points. Freshman Keyla Pullen (Richmond, VA/Monacan) (Richmond, VA./Monacan) tied her career-high eight points and had a career-high six assists.

“This was the best first half that we've played all year,” Kutztown University head coach Janet Malouf said. “They played hard and I'm proud of them. Today our freshman and sophomores played really well, they really stepped it up.”

WCU's Allison Hostetter finished with a game-high 21 points. Hostestter shot 8-for-14 from the field. Ambreelinne Ortman recorded 17 points and Keefer added nine.

The Golden Bears will travel to East Stroudsburg University  on Saturday, Jan. 14 for a PSAC East Division game beginning at 1 p.m.