SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – After a back and forth first 13 minutes of action, a late second quarter run helped Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division leader Shippensburg establish a nine-point halftime lead it would use to pull away from the Kutztown University women's basketball team en route to a 71-53 win on Wednesday night.
 
Neither team led by more than four for the opening 13+ minutes and the score was deadlocked at 20-20 when Sierra Taylor (Williamstown, N.J./Camden Catholic) made a jumper with 6:47 remaining in the first half. That is when Shippensburg made its move, closing the half on a 15-6 run to take a 35-26 lead into the locker room when Colleen Young got fouled and made two free throws just one second before the buzzer. 
 
Shippensburg (12-4 PSAC, 17-5) then tallied the first point of the second half on a foul shot to push the advantage to double digits. KU would go on to pull within single digits on three separate occasions, including on a Jenna Altomare (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa./State College Area) free throw with 6:07 to go in the third, but the Raiders answered on the ensuing trip down the court and would lead by double digits the remainder of the evening.
 
Taylor led Kutztown (4-11, 7-16) with 13 points and two assists.  
 
Altomare shot well, going 3-of-5 from the field, 2-of-3 3-point range and 3-of-4 from the foul line en route to 11 points.
 
Taylor Thames (Colmar, Pa./North Penn) came off the bench to contribute 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting and 4-of-4 free throws for her fourth double-digit scoring effort in the last five games. The sophomore had four such games in the first 44 contests of her career.
 
Kelsey Watson (Collegeville, Pa./Methacton) added eight points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds to move into fifth place in program history with 742 for her career.
 
KU shot well from both the free throw line and 3-point range, making 12-of-14 foul shots (85.7 percent) and 5-of-12 from beyond the arch (41.7), respectively, but the Golden Bears managed to make just 18-of-45 field goals (40.0).
 
The turnover battle also proved to play an important role with Shippensburg forcing 20 Kutztown turnovers - compared to committing just 10 - that led to an 18-9 edge in points off of turnovers.
 
Shippensburg also had a 15-6 advantage in second chance points.
 
Stephanie Knauer paced four Raiders in double figures with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go along with eight rebounds. Logan Snyder added 16 points and game-highs of five assists and two steals.
 
Kutztown returns home this Saturday, Feb. 4 to host Lock Haven at 1 p.m. inside of Keystone Arena. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to recognize the Play4Kay initiative, which has donated millions of dollars to women's cancer research. Pink t-shirts will also be given away to the first 150 students who bring ID.