BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – Trailing by seven points at halftime, the Kutztown University women's basketball team mounted a comeback in the third quarter, outscoring Bloomsburg University 15-10, but ultimately could not overcome this deficit, falling 68-60 to the Huskies in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action on the road.
 
The comeback began with 3:51 remaining in the second quarter with KU facing a 14-point deficit, trailing 30-16. Kutztown closed the half on a 12-5 run, during which Karen Lapkiewicz (Southampton, Pa., Saint Basil Academy) scored six of her 17 points. The momentum continued to swing the Maroon and Gold's way into the third quarter as a jumper from Zoe Zerman (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon) knotted the score at 41-all with 4:10 to go in the third.
 
With KU down just two to begin the final quarter, the Bloomsburg offense came alive in the final 10 minutes, answering Kutztown's scoring with several crucial buckets of its own down the stretch. The Huskies kept the Maroon and Gold at bay in crunch time, outscoring them 23-17 in the final stanza to seal their victory.
 
Taylor Montana racked up a double-double to lead the Bloomsburg effort, scoring 16 points and nabbing 13 rebounds, four of which came on the offensive end. Alyssa Mack was also excellent, showing veteran poise in making 7-of-8 free-throws in the final 35 seconds. Mack and Montana combined for 37 points and Lauren Oeth also added 10 to round out the Husky trio in double-figures.
 
Lapkiewicz scored in double-figures for the second consecutive game to lead the Golden Bears, tallying 17 points, one short of her career-high, knocking down all seven of her free throw attempts. Keifonna Ferguson (Norristown, Pa./Norristown Area) joined Lapkiewicz in the double-digit scoring department, going 5-of-6 from the field and 2-for-3 from the charity stripe to record 12 points.
 
Kaila Brown (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill), Alexis Smith (Dauphin, Pa./Central Dauphin) and Zerman each scored six points off the bench and Kalee Fuegel (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) added a two-point field goal as the reserves tallied a combined 20 points, seven less than their season average. Rylee Derr (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) struggled from the field in her second consecutive game, scoring just seven points on 3-of-15 shooting, but still contributed on the boards, grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.
 
Offensive rebounding was plentiful between the two sides as KU secured 11 offensive boards and Bloomsburg racked up 10 in 40 minutes of action. Kutztown also won the battle in the paint, outscoring the Huskies 40-30 and the turnover battle, turning over Bloomsburg 14 times compared to their nine, one more than their season-low (8, vs. Mercyhurst, Dec. 2).
 
The loss drops the Golden Bears to 12-9 and 7-8 in the PSAC with seven games remaining, snapping a two-game overall win streak. With tonight's results going final, KU is still a half-game up on Millersville (10-10, 7-9), sitting in third place in the Eastern Division and also is 2.5 games clear of fifth-place Mansfield (7-15, 5-11) as it looks to secure a top-four finish to guarantee a home game in the PSAC playoffs.
 
Head Coach Janet Malouf's squad will look to make it six-in-a-row at home in their next competition, a date with the PSAC Eastern Division-leading West Chester University Rams on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 1 p.m.