KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Led by 23 points from
Rylee Derr (Lititz, Pa./Warwick), the Kutztown University women's basketball team won its fifth consecutive home game and its fourth straight at Keystone Arena in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) on Wednesday evening, dispatching Lock Haven University, 73-62.
KU closed the first half on a 6-0 run with back-to-back three-pointers from Derr and
Zoe Zerman (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon), igniting the Golden Bear offense just before the break. Kutztown ripped off a 13-2 run to open the second half, in which Derr scored nine points, to put itself ahead to stay, leading 50-33 with 5:03 left in the third quarter.
Derr matched a career-high in scoring, going 3-of-7 from distance and making all eight of her free throw attempts, tallying 23 points for the second time in her last three contests.
Karen Lapkiewicz (Southampton, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) made an impact in a variety of areas for head coach
Janet Malouf, finishing with a stat line of eight points, six rebounds and a career-high seven assists.
Alexis Smith (Dauphin, Pa./Central Dauphin) continues to produce for the Maroon and Gold off the bench, scoring 15 points on 3-of-8 shooting from deep and going 4-of-4 from the line.
Gabbi Wright (Elkins Park, Pa./Cheltenham) led the inside effort for the Golden Bears, racking up nine points and adding one block and one steal in 22 minutes of play.
As a team, the stifling Kutztown defense came to play in its home gym, once again, forcing 20 Lock Haven turnovers and scoring 21 points off LHU's mistakes. KU's bench got itself back on track after just four points at East Stroudsburg, erupting for 29 points led by Smith's 15. Rounding out the bench effort, Zerman poured in five points,
Kaila Brown (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill) had four points and three rebounds,
Jenna Widdicombe (Pottstown, Pa./Pope John Paul II (West Chester)) scored five points and
Sierra Taylor (Williamstown, N.J./Camden Catholic) tallied two points, two assists and two steals.
The win for the Golden Bears improves their record to 11-8 and 6-7 in the PSAC as they secured their 10th win at home this season. The ten wins at home are the most for the program since the 2010-11 season with still four home games remaining in the regular season. With tonight's results from the other games around the conference, KU is still a half-game up on Millersville, whom defeated ESU, for third place in the PSAC Eastern Division, but gained ground on fifth-place Mansfield, who fell to Cheyney.
Kutztown faces a tough stretch on the road in its next two games, traveling to Shippensburg and Bloomsburg on Jan. 27 and Jan. 31, respectively.
