KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University women's basketball team defeated The University of the Sciences on Thursday night, 61-51, in a non-conference tilt held inside Keystone Arena.
 
Kutztown (7-8, 4-7 PSAC) led for a majority of the game, but the Sciences (4-13, 4-5 CACC) fought hard until the final buzzer. After a closely contested first half, the Golden Bears managed to hold the Devils at bay for most of the second half.
 
The Sciences took a 21-20 lead at the 7:56 mark in the second quarter, but KU took back the lead two minutes later on a Watson layup and did not relinquish it the rest of the way.
 
Kutztown led 28-25 at half and used an 18-11 third quarter to push the lead to 46-36, which proved to be too much for the Sciences to comeback from.
 
Junior forward Kelsey Watson (Collegeville, Pa./Methacton) kept her hot streak going with her fifth consecutive double-double. She recorded a game-high 18 points and 10 rebounds in 36 minutes of action. Watson has scored in double figures in 14 of KU's 15 games and has six total double-doubles this season.
 
Senior guard Natalya Lee (Feasterville, Pa./Rancocas Valley Regional) recorded 16 points (3-5 3PT), six rebounds, four assists and three steals. She now has 1,086 career points, which ranks 11th all-time in KU history. Lee also sits ninth all-time in KU history in 3-pointers made with 105 and moved up to seventh all-time in free-throw makes with 271.
 
Jenna Altomare (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa./State College Area) was the third and final Golden Bear in double-figures with 11 points (3-7 3PT). She also recorded three assists and three steals. Altomare continued her strong shooting from beyond the arc with her 15th straight game hitting a 3-pointer and 14th game with multiple threes. It was also Altomare's 10th game of the season with three or more 3-pointers.
 
Altomare has already cemented herself in the KU record books in just the 15th game of the season. She has 48 3-pointers on the season, which is tied for 10th in KU history for makes in a season. Altomare is just 16 shy of second all-time and 33 away from Rachel Wisemiller's school-record of 81 3-pointers in a season in 2008-09.
 
Freshmen Allison Girardi (Somerset, N.J./Immaculata) and Taylor Thames (Colmar, Pa./North Penn) each contributed six points off the bench for KU, while starter Gina Lewis (Atlantic City, N.J./Holy Spirit) posted four points and four rebounds.
 
For the game, Kutztown held a decisive 20-8 advantage in points off turnovers and had 10 fast-break points to six for the Sciences. Both teams struggled from the field, with the Sciences shooting 40 percent and KU at 32 percent.
 
The Sciences were led by Laura Trisch and Megan Wolf. Trisch had 13 points, a team-high eight rebounds and a game-high six blocks. Wolf posted 13 points and three assists. Marissa Sylvester tallied nine points, three rebounds and two assists off the bench.
 
KU returns to Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) competition on the road on Saturday, Jan. 16, at 1 p.m. in a road matchup with East Stroudsburg.