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KUTZTOWN, Pa. - Despite a stellar all-around performance from senior guard Natalya Lee (Feasterville, Pa./Rancocas Valley Regional), the Kutztown University women's basketball team dropped a tightly-contested Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) matchup with Shippensburg University, 86-81, inside Keystone Arena on Saturday afternoon.
 
Kutztown (8-13, 5-12 PSAC East) battled all game long against first-place Shippensburg (18-4, 14-4) and had a chance in the final 30 seconds to take the lead and pull off the huge upset.
 
The Golden Bears ended the first quarter with a 15-11 lead and used a 10-0 spurt from the 2:30 mark in the first to the 9:19 mark in the second quarter to take a 17-11 lead. Shippensburg ended the second quarter on a 31-20 run and took a 42-37 lead going into the half.
 
The Raiders outscored KU, 22-20, in the third quarter and went into the final period with a 64-57 advantage.
 
Kutztown fought back in the fourth quarter, including going on a 9-0 run from the 5:27 mark in the quarter to the 2:26 mark. KU took a 75-74 lead on a Taylor Thames (Colmar, Pa./North Penn) layup with 2:26 to go and put itself in position for the upset.
 
Unfortunately for the Golden Bears, Shippensburg followed up KU's 9-0 run with a 7-0 spurt of its own, which gave it an 81-75 advantage with under a minute to go. Junior Gina Lewis (Atlantic City, N.J./Holy Spirit) then converted a layup and free-throw for KU to cut the lead to 81-78 with 40 seconds to go.
 
Following a Kutztown intentional foul, Shippensburg missed one of its two free-throws and KU struck back with a 3-pointer from Kelsey Watson (Collegeville, Pa./Methacton). Lee posted her school-record-tying 14th assist of the game on the make by Watson.
 
KU had one more chance to take the lead with 20 seconds to play following a pair of free-throws from Shippensburg. Kutztown trailed 84-81, but a missed layup by Watson proved to be the final chance for the Golden Bears as they fell to the Raiders, 86-81.
 
Lee was phenomenal all game long for KU, posting nine points, nine rebounds and a career-high 14 assists. Her 14 assists tied the school-record set by Anita Franczak against Lehigh in 1981. Lee moved up the career assists leaderboard at KU as she now has the fifth most in school-history with 357.
 
Lewis posted a career-high 18 points and seven rebounds, while Watson added 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
 
Junior Jenna Altomare (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa./State College Area) scored 17 points, including 5-of-9 from 3-point range. She made a 3-pointer for the 21st consecutive game and posted five or more triples for the third time this season.
 
Altomare has hit 63 3-pointers this season, tied for third most in KU history in a single-season. She needs two more 3-pointers to take sole possession of second-most in KU history and is 18 shy of tying Rachel Wisemiller's record of 81 triples in the 2008-09 season.
 
Thames recorded a career-high 11 points (4-7 FG, 3-4 FT), while Keifonna Ferguson (Norristown, Pa./Norristown Area) contributed six.
 
Morgan Griffith posted a game-high 27 points for Shippensburg to go along with eight rebounds. Lauren Gold recorded 21 points, four rebounds and five assists. Logan Snyder was Shippensburg's third and final player in double-figures with 16 points.
 
There were 10 lead changes and four ties in the contest. KU held a decisive 31-9 advantage in bench points over Shippensburg. Kutztown and Shippensburg both shot 45 percent from the field.
 
Kutztown is back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 7:30 p.m. in a PSAC road tilt with Bloomsburg University inside Nelson Field House.