KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University women's basketball team suffered its second tough loss in as many days on Saturday evening, falling to Fayetteville State University on a buzzer-beater 61-59 to wrap up its weekend as the host of the KU Conference Challenge at Keystone Arena. 
 
Rylee Derr (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) took a fast-break pass from Karen Lapkiewicz (Southampton, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) and converted an and-one opportunity to put Kutztown ahead 59-57 with 12 seconds to go. However, FSU netted a lay-up to tie the game with six seconds remaining and then forced a Kutztown turnover on the ensuing in-bounds. The Broncos of FSU then threw a lob pass into the post with time ticking away which their center lofted high over an outstretched KU defender into the net with no time left on the clock to pull out the win. 
 
Brianna Tarabocchia (Woodcliff Lake, N.J./Northern Valley Regional (Saint Peter's)) led the Golden Bears with 12 points and 13 rebounds, her first career double-double, and also added four assists and four steals. Alexis Smith (Dauphin, Pa./Central Dauphin) made five triples in the game to pace KU from beyond the arc, scoring 15 points. Derr matched her total from the opener against Lincoln, leading the Maroon and Gold with 19 points. 
 
Clinging to a three-point lead at the break, the Golden Bears came out hot in the second half, scoring seven unanswered points to go in from 41-31. However, KU couldn't extend this advantage against a physical FSU team which showed no quit, digging itself out of this hole with a 17-5 run to go ahead 48-46 by the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter was as back-and-forth a ten minutes as it gets with both sides trading buckets to the duration of the game. 
 
KU's drive to snatch this competitive tilt reached its peak with Derr's and-one, bringing a raucous Keystone Arena crowd to its feet. However, FSU's 4-0 run in the last 12 seconds sealed Kutztown's fate as it falls to 0-2 on the young season. 
 
The sharpshooting Maroon and Gold offense racked up eight threes in the game, but went just 2-of-11 from distance in the second half. For FSU, the inside play of Aminata Johnson swung the game in its favor as Johnson finished with a game-high 21 points, scoring three of the last four buckets including the game-winner. Kutztown also committed 24 turnovers compated to just 15 for Fayetteville State. 
 
Kutztown will continue its non-conference slate on Wednesday, Nov. 14, traveling to Georgian Court University for a 6 p.m. tilt in Lakewood, N.J.