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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University women's basketball team returns home to the friendly confines of Keystone Arena, where it has won six-of-seven games this season, for its first game of 2018. KU faces a matchup with the Bloomsburg University Huskies on the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 3. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
 
In its last contest on Dec. 30, KU struggled to gain any traction as West Chester outscored the Golden Bears 16-8 in the first quarter and 23-17 in the third quarter on its way to a decisive 76-58 victory. A combination of turnovers and rebounding proved to be the difference in this tilt, as WCU won the turnover battle, 30-18, and held a 14-6 advantage on the offensive glass, scoring 11 second-chance points.
 
Alexis Smith (Dauphin, Pa./Central Dauphin) paced the Maroon and Gold's effort, scoring a team-high 15 points in her first career start, securing her sixth game with double-digit points of her freshman campaign. Fellow frosh Rylee Derr (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) filled up the stat sheet in this affair, chipping in 11 points of her own and collecting team-highs with eight rebounds, six assists and two steals.
 
Following the loss, Kutztown (7-5 overall, 2-4 PSAC) sits in third place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference's (PSAC) Eastern Division, tied with Millersville and Bloomsburg, and one game back of West Chester. The Huskies (5-7, 2-4) are also coming off a road defeat in their last competition, suffering a 66-57 loss to Lock Haven on Dec. 30.
 
Bloomsburg enters the matchup with KU having established itself as one of the strongest defensive teams in the PSAC, surrendering just 60.8 ppg, sixth-best in the conference, and limiting opponents to 34.9 percent from the field and 25.1 percent shooting from behind the arc. A balanced BU attack features six different players averaging 5.8 ppg or more, led by Meghan Corridoni, at 7.9 per contest. Taylor Montana, averaging 7.8 ppg and a team-high 5.3 rebounds per game, and Corridoni make up a formidable duo for the Huskies in the paint.
 
An area for the Maroon and Gold to exploit in this matchup could come on the offensive end, facing off with a Bloomsburg team averaging a PSAC-low 55.9 points per game. KU has scored 60 points or more in 7-of-12 games this season, scoring 66.8 points per game, while the Huskies have scored 60 or more points in just 3-of-12 games thus far.
 
With scoring expected to be at a premium, a good start for the Kutztown offense will be paramount in this game, as it has been outscored 110-68 in the first quarter this season in PSAC play. If the Golden Bears can employ their high-pressure defense, which averages 10.25 steals per game (fourth in PSAC), and get some shots to fall early, KU has the potential to make this a one-sided contest. Not only have the Huskies struggled to score this season, they are also averaging 20.8 turnovers per game, third-worst in the PSAC.
 
Live stats, video and game notes are available via the links above, which are also accessible via www.kubears.com.