INSTITUTE, W.V. – The Kutztown University women's basketball team rode a game-opening 13-0 run to a 75-63 victory over Charleston (WV) in its season-opener on day one of the Wingate Conference Challenge hosted by West Virginia State on Saturday evening.
 
Jenna Altomare (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa./State College Area) drained a 3-pointer just seven seconds into the contest, and a Sierra Taylor (Williamstown, N.J./Camden Catholic) basket made it 13-0 with just 2:47 having ticked off the clock.

KU's lead reached as high as 15 when Kaylee Fuegel converted a three-point play at the 5:42 mark of the first.
 
Charleston cut the deficit to seven on a trifecta with 2:04 left, but Taylor closed the first quarter with a jumper for her eighth point to bring the score to 26-17 at the end of one.
 
The lead grew to a game-high 15 once again, 34-19, when Alex Heck (Willow Grove, Pa./Archbishop Wood (Philadelphia U.)) made 2-2 from the line 2:01 into the second quarter, and despite Charleston chipping away and getting as close as seven at one point, once again it was Taylor giving Kutztown the momentum as she beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer to make the score 41-30.

KU went cold in the third – scoring just six points – and that allowed Charleston to pull within six, 47-41, heading into the fourth quarter.
 
A Charleston basket just four seconds into the fourth and all of the sudden the lead was four. The Golden Eagles then got as close as three on two occasions, the latter of which came with the score 55-52 with 6:23 remaining
 
Kutztown kept its composure though, taking the next six points with a three-point play by Kara Funk (Dover, Pa./Dover) and jumper by Heck on back-to-back possessions, and the Maroon and Gold would lead by at least five throughout the remainder of the evening.
 
In her first career game as a Golden Bear, Heck, a graduate transfer, poured in not only a game-high but also a career-high 25 points in just 27 minutes. She shot 9-14 from the field and made seven of her eight free throw attempts.
 
Also playing in her first career game as a Golden Bear, Taylor, a freshman, contributed 15 points, all of which came in the first half.
 
With 11 points, Funk, a senior, scored in double figures for the seventh time in her career and also dished out a career-high seven assists.
 
Also with a career-high on the night was junior Keifonna Ferguson (Norristown, Pa./Norristown Area), who pulled down 10 rebounds.
 
Kelsey Watson (Collegeville, Pa./Methacton) recorded a game-high 12 rebounds, while Altomare added 10 points to give KU four players in double figures.
 
In a very even matchup statistically, Kutztown's biggest advantage perhaps came at the free throw line, where the Golden Bears went 22-30 (73.3 percent) to tie for its most free throws made since Jan. 25, 2015. In addition to Heck going 7-8, Funk (5-5) and Taylor (4-4) both had a perfect night at the charity stripe.
 
Jordyn Peck led Charleston with 15 points and Mya Walker added 13 and a team-high eight rebounds.
 
KU concludes play in the Wingate Conference Challenge tomorrow, Nov.13, against the host West Virginia State at 3:30 p.m.