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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University women's basketball team held the lead for the first 25:32 of the game Wednesday night, but ultimately could not fight off the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East Division-leading Bloomsburg University Huskies in a 71-58 setback inside Keystone Arena.
 
Wednesday night marked the final home game for the Maroon and Gold, as they celebrated senior night, the Play4Kay initiative, and KUSSI Fan Appreciation Night. During a pre-game ceremony, Alyssa Bonenberger, Advia Campbell, Elisa Gaffney, and Nicole Donahue were honored as the members of the 2014-15 senior class.
 
Natalya Lee joined the four seniors in the starting lineup and helped the Golden Bears (10-15, 9-12 PSAC) get off to a hot start. Over the course of the first three minutes, Kutztown opened up a 9-0 lead as Bloomsburg (21-3, 18-2) went 0-for-4 from the field.
 
Kutztown's second 9-0 run of the first half, fueled by two second-chance buckets from Gaffney, opened up an 11-point lead for KU with 2:12 left in the first half (33-22). The Golden Bears took a 34-28 advantage heading into the locker room.
 
Coming out of the break, Lee popped a triple right off the bat, but the momentum quickly turned into Bloomsburg's favor. The Huskies executed a balanced attack and shut down defense to mount a 21-6 run and earn their first lead of the game, shooting 10-of-13 from the field during the stretch. BU maintained the lead for the remainder of the game to pull out the 71-58 comeback win.
 
Kutztown came into the game ranked third in the PSAC with 42.7 rebounds per game, but were dominated by the Huskies on the glass. The Golden Bears surrendered a season-high 22 offensive rebounds to Bloomsburg. Meanwhile, Kutztown was limited to 12 offensive boards and totaled a season-low 27 from both ends of the floor.
 
Gaffney came to play in her final home game in the Maroon and Gold, tying her career high with 17 points. She shot 6-of-12 from the field and added three steals, two assists, and a team-high six rebounds in 35 minutes.
 
Lee was the only other Golden Bear to reach double figures, scoring 11 points on 50 percent shooting and dishing out a game-high five assists.
 
Bonenberger and Campbell each recorded nine points and three assists, while combining for seven rebounds. Donahue chipped in five points and two steals.
 
Kutztown shot 45 percent from the field (22-of-69) but struggled from the free-throw line (11-of-21), while the Huskies recorded a 43 percent clip from the field and went 8-for-9 at the charity stripe.
 
Bloomsburg was paced by a quartet of double-digit scorers, led by Jocelyn Ford's 15 points, four assists, and five rebounds.  Marla Simmons scored 12 points with four assists, Erica Maciejewski notched 11 points and Taylor Maldonado added 10. Maciejewski led BU with seven rebounds, all of which were offensive boards.
 
With a conference bye this Saturday, the Golden Bears will wrap up their regular season at East Stroudsburg next Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. with a playoff spot on the line. The Warriors won the first matchup earlier this season in double overtime, 80-73. Kutztown currently sits in sixth place in the East. If Millersville falls to Bloomsburg this Saturday, Kutztown and East Stroudsburg will secure the final two playoff spots in the East.