SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – In its second of back-to-back games as part of the Wolf's Bus Lines Classic hosted by Shippensburg University, the Kutztown University women's basketball team defeated the Wheeling Jesuit University Cardinals, 59-55.
WJU came out of the gates shooting the ball effectively, making four three-pointers in the first quarter on its way to holding a 16-11 lead at the period's end. Trailing 18-11 with 8:21 remaining in the second quarter,
Rylee Derr (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) started to find her three-point stroke, knocking down two triples to fuel a ten-point KU run.
Three free throws from the Cardinals evened the first half score at 21-21, after which both sides would trade buckets for the next two minutes. A layup and later free throw from
Taylor Thames (Colmar, Pa./North Penn) with 45 seconds left in the half gave KU a 28-25 advantage, but a WJU three-pointer on its last possession tied the game at 28-all headed into the halftime break.
Derr and Thames combined for 16 points in the first stanza, with Derr making three-of-six from beyond the arc.
Karen Lapkiewicz (Southampton, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) dished out a team-high three helpers and four rebounds to lead the Golden Bears in the first half in each category.
Keifonna Ferguson (Norristown, Pa./Norristown Area) got the second half scoring started for the Maroon and Gold, with back-to-back layups to pull ahead, 32-28. Clinging to a one-point advantage at the 32-31 mark, Kutztown used a five-point run, which featured contributions from
Kaylan Jackson (Germantown, Md./Clarksburg) and
Sierra Taylor (Williamstown, N.J./Camden Catholic), to take a 37-31 lead with 5:13 left in the third quarter.
The Cardinals answered this spurt from KU with a run of their own, erasing the deficit quickly, tying the score at 37-all with 3:31 remaining in the third. Both sides went back and forth as each struggled to gain a significant margin as Wheeling Jesuit held a 41-40 lead headed into the final quarter.
Lapkiewicz and Derr sparked the Golden Bear offense to begin the fourth quarter, scoring ten of the first thirteen points to go ahead 50-44 with 6:33 to go. A resilient WJU side again found a way to tie the score at 50-all, setting up a thrilling finish in this back-and-forth affair.
Down 53-52, Derr went on a scoring tear with a conventional three-point play and dagger three-point shot on back-to-back possessions to put the Maroon and Gold ahead, 58-53, with under two minutes remaining. Derr's crucial baskets and a few missed shots down the stretch doomed the Cardinals as KU finished off the win by a 59-55 final score.
Derr, a freshman, led the way offensively with 19 points and eight rebounds in the game and continues to impress in her short time in Maroon and Gold. Jackson joined Derr in double-digits, scoring 10 points, a career-high for the sophomore guard. Lapkiewicz filled the stat sheet with eight points, three assists and six rebounds, playing a team-high 32 minutes.
For her outstanding play this weekend, Derr was selected to the Wolf's Bus Lines Classic All-Tournament Team.
The Maroon and Gold return home for their next contest, a mid-week tilt with Chestnut Hill College on Wed., Nov. 15 at Keystone Arena.
