Live Stats | Video KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University women's basketball team faces off against East Stroudsburg University at home on Saturday, Feb. 13, at 1 p.m., hoping to halt a losing skid and position itself for a run at the six seed in the upcoming Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) playoffs.
Kutztown (8-14, 5-13 PSAC East) has struggled of late, dropping its last five PSAC matchups and dropping to seventh in the PSAC East standings at 5-13. It is 1.5 games behind Lock Haven for the sixth and final playoff spot. East Stroudsburg (11-11, 9-9) sits in fifth and will clinch a playoff berth with a win.
The Golden Bears had a heartbreaking loss at Bloomsburg on Wednesday night, 61-60. Junior forward
Kelsey Watson (Collegeville, Pa./Methacton) recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard
Jenna Altomare (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa./State College Area) had 13 points and extended her streak of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 22.
East Stroudsburg has lost three of its last five games, including an 85-77 loss in overtime against West Chester on Wednesday, Feb. 10. Rebecca Rutkowski had team-highs of 23 points and four blocks, while Allison Howard posted 19 points and a team-best eight rebounds.
The Warriors lead the entire PSAC with 4.77 blocks per game and are fourth in rebounds per game with 41.2. Kutztown is third in both turnover margin (3.09) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.14).
KU features three of the top-19 scorers in the conference, while East Stroudsburg only has one. Watson is fourth in the PSAC with 16.6 points per game;
Natalya Lee (Feasterville, Pa./Rancocas Valley Regional) is 14th (14.6) and Altomare ranks 19th (13.8). Allison Howard leads East Stroudsburg in scoring with 15.6 points per game (10th in PSAC).
Watson has also been one of the top rebounders in the conference with 9.0 per game (fifth in PSAC). She has scored in double-figures 20 times this season and has recorded five or more assists on seven occasions. For her career, Watson has accumulated 891 points and 516 rebounds.
Lee has scored 15 or more points in 12 games and has accumulated five or more assists on 11 occasions. She had a school-record-tying 14 assists against Shippensburg on Feb. 6 and has 111 this season (fourth in PSAC). Lee has 1,180 career points (eighth in KU history) and 363 career assists (fourth in KU history).
The top 3-point shooter in the PSAC this season, Altomare, has hit 70 total 3-pointers and leads the conference with 3.2 makes per game. She is second in school-history in 3-pointers in a season, just 11 shy of tying Rachel Wisemiller's record of 81. For her career, Altomare has 110 3-pointers (ninth in KU history).
Junior forward
Gina Lewis (Atlantic City, N.J./Holy Spirit) has started in 15 games for KU, posting averages of 6.7 points and 4.2 rebounds.
Keifonna Ferguson (Norristown, Pa./Norristown Area) is fifth on the team with 5.4 points per game and is second with 5.5 rebounds per game.
Guards
Kara Funk (Dover, Pa./Dover),
Taylor Thames (Colmar, Pa./North Penn) and
Allison Girardi (Somerset, N.J./Immaculata) have all contributed in the KU backcourt. Funk is third on the team with 46 assists. Thames is averaging 3.0 points per game and has 29 assists, while Girardi has chipped in with 28.
