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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – In its final contest before the holiday break, the Kutztown University women's basketball team (6-4 overall) will take on the Georgian Court University Lions in a non-conference matchup on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off from Keystone Arena is scheduled for 4 p.m.
 
Admission will be free, although fans are encouraged to bring a canned good to support local charity Friend, Inc.
 
The Golden Bears have been playing their best basketball of late, winners of four of their last five and sporting a 5-1 record inside the friendly confines of Keystone Arena. KU was tripped up in its last contest, however, defeated 92-66 by the Seton Hill University Griffins on Saturday, Dec. 9, snapping a four-game overall winning streak and suffering its first home defeat of the 2017-18 campaign.
                              
Outscored 66-35 in the final three quarters of play, Kutztown couldn't get its offensive game going in this tilt, shooting just 36.8 percent from the field (25-68), 23.5 percent from deep (4-17) and 52.2 percent from the line (12-23). Taylor Thames (Colmar, Pa./North Penn), in her third game since being inserted in the starting lineup for an injured Sierra Taylor (Williamstown, N.J./Camden Catholic), scored a team-high 15 points, adding two assists and two steals. Rylee Derr (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) and Gabbi Wright (Elkins Park, Pa./Cheltenham) joined Thames in the double-digit scoring department, collecting 12 and 11 points, respectively.
 
Despite the defeat, the Maroon and Gold still sit two games above .500 and are a perfect 3-0 at home in non-conference games this season, defeating Chestnut Hill, PSU Lehigh Valley and Jefferson thus far. By comparison, the Golden Bears hold a 6-4 record through their first ten games and held a 2-8 mark last season through the same number of contests.
 
Georgian Court, hailing from Lakewood, N.J., holds a 2-6 record this season, and has dropped four of its last five games. In an examination of common opponents, GCU was defeated by Jefferson on Dec. 2, 80-64, in a game which the Lions only led for four minutes of gameplay, all of which occurred in the first quarter. On the flip side, KU defeated Jefferson, 73-69, on Nov. 29, a tightly-contested game in which the Golden Bears had to hang on for the victory against a resilient Jefferson side.
 
The Lions are led, offensively, by Jaelyn Tweedy with 13.5 ppg and 3.1 apg, both of which rank first on the team. In the frontcourt, Destiny Thompson has nabbed a team-high 5.9 rebounds per game and leads GCU in blocked shots with 11, averaging 1.4 bpg. Jess Placher is Georgian Court's three-point specialist, knocking in a team-high 21 three-pointers this season at a 39.6 percent clip.
 
For KU, the story this season, especially over the last five games, has been two-fold. One storyline has been the improved play and increased role of Taylor Thames (Colmar, Pa./North Penn), whom has totaled 35 points in her first three career starts.
 
The other has been the excellent play of the freshman class, specifically that of Rylee Derr (Lititz, Pa./Warwick), Alexis Smith (Dauphin, Pa./Central Dauphin) and, most recently, Zoe Zerman (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon). Derr ranks sixth in the PSAC, shooting 35.7 percent from deep, and Smith sits just behind Derr, shooting 35.4 percent from beyond the arc. The freshman sharpshooting duo has combined for 42 three-pointers made and one of the two has led the team in scoring in seven of its first ten games. Zerman, whom has appeared in the last three games after recovering from injury, has provided a spark off the bench, tallying 21 points in just 43 minutes action, making up a formidable freshman trio for the remainder of the season and beyond.
 
Live stats, video (Golden Bear Network) and game notes are available via the links above and are also accessible on www.kubears.com.