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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – After defending an early run in the fourth quarter, the Kutztown University women's basketball team held off Millersville, 51-49, on Senior Day in its final regular-season home game of the year at Keystone Arena on Saturday afternoon.
 
With the victory, KU (8-12 PSAC, 11-17) broke a tie with the Marauders (7-13, 9-16) for fifth place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East with two contests remaining in the season. The Golden Bears can clinch a berth in the PSAC Tournament with a win in at least one of its two final games.
 
Kutztown is currently tied with Bloomsburg for fourth place and will hit the road for a crucial showdown with the Huskies in their next game on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. The third and fourth seed in the PSAC Tournament host a First Round game on Monday, Feb. 1.
 
KU held the lead for a majority of the afternoon on Saturday. Capped by two free throws from Sierra Taylor (Williamstown, N.J./Camden Catholic) with two seconds to spare in the third quarter, the Maroon and Gold took a game-high 17-point advantage, 44-27.
 
Despite the Marauders opening the fourth on a 12-0 run, and reducing Kutztown's lead to just one point, 46-47, with 1:18 left in regulation, they were unable to overtake the Maroon and Gold. KU hit four free throws in the final 49 seconds, capped by Karen Lapkiewicz (Southampton, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) going 2-for-2 with 12 seconds to spare to make it a two-possession game.
 
Jenna Altomare (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa./State College Area) was the sole double-digit scorer for Kutztown as she led the Maroon and Gold with 12 points and a season-high four assists. With her 59th 3-pointer of the season, and her 186th overall, she is just five triples behind the program's all-time leader.
 
With three assists, Taylor broke KU's single-season freshman record, and in the process, moved into tenth place in single-season program annals with her 118th dime of the year.
 
Keifonna Ferguson (Norristown, Pa./Norristown Area) racked up seven of KU's 14 points off the bench to go along with a game-high 13 rebounds, one short of her career-high.
 
In their final home game, Kelsey Watson (Collegeville, Pa./Methacton) and Alex Heck (Willow Grove, Pa./Archbishop Wood (Philadelphia U.)) both scored nine points. Watson picked up eight rebounds, while Heck had five.
 
Fellow senior Kara Funk (Dover, Pa./Dover) had two rebounds and two assists.
 
Gina Lewis (Atlantic City, N.J./Holy Spirit), who is currently injured, was also honored prior to tip.
 
Kutztown held Millersville to just 29.1 percent shooting (16-of-55) on the afternoon, the third opponent the Maroon and Gold have held to sub 30-percent shooting in its last five games. Turnovers assisted in the defensive effort, as KU scored 20 points off of 19 Millersville giveaways.
 
Millersville was led by starter Alayah Hall, who picked up a game-high 13 points. The Marauders scored more points in the paint, 20-16, while the Millersville bench bested KU by just one point, 15-14.
 
Although the Marauders took the lead early in the contest, Kutztown stayed within striking distance until Lapkiewicz's jumper at the 7:30 mark in the second, which gave Golden Bears a 16-15 lead. KU led the rest of the afternoon.