ERIE, Pa. – The Kutztown University women's basketball raced out to an early lead through two-and-a-half quarters, but saw Mercyhurst University go on an even better run in the final quarter-and-a-half as the Lakers rallied to take down KU 74-70 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action Tuesday afternoon.
 
It is just the first conference loss for the Golden Bears (3-7 overall, 2-2 PSAC) since their league-opener against third-ranked Indiana (PA). They had won their last two PSAC games by an average of 14.5 points, and were well on their way to matching that through the first 23:18 of the game with Mercyhurst (3-7, 1-3).
 
KU led for all but 0:56 of the first half, as its only deficit was at 3-2 within the opening 0:34. After a three-pointer by Derr, Kutztown went up 5-3 and never looked back, racing to a 35-20 lead at halftime.
 
Kutztown remained hot when it exited the halftime locker room and stormed out to a 46-24 advantage with 6:42 left in the third quarter. But that's when the Lakers began to fight back.
 
Mercyhurst scored 14 unanswered in a 2:25 span to climb back to an eight-point deficit. It would then score 24 of the next 29 points to trail by just three, 51-48 after three, the smallest KU advantage since it led 5-3 at the 8:32 mark of the first quarter.
 
Mercyhurst took the lead at the 7:44 mark of the fourth on a three-point play to go up 53-51, and would remain on top for the remainder of the game. The Maroon and Gold found themselves down by as much as seven at 58-51 and 6:42 left on the clock, but remained in striking distance.
 
Kutztown pulled to within one-score five times under the 1:00 mark, answering Mercyhurst's 11-for-12 effort from the free-throw line in the final minute of play. But after a Zoe Zerman (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon) free-throw cut the Golden Bears deficit to 72-70 with 0:14 remaining, the Lakers connected on both of their shots from the charity stripe to seal the deal.
 
The Mercyhurst run spanned 17:06 where it outscored KU 50-26. The Lakers made 7-of-10 three-pointers in that time frame while the Golden Bears were just 2-of-14.
 
Rylee Derr (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) led all scorers with 23 points, while adding eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. Brianna Tarabocchia (Woodcliff Lake, N.J./Northern Valley Regional (Saint Peter's)) tallied 13 points, going 3-for-6 from distance, and also had six rebounds. Taylor Thames (Colmar, Pa./North Penn) contributed 11 points, four rebounds and four assists, and Kalee Fuegel (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) also scored in double-figures with 10.
 
Karen Lapkiewicz (Southampton, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) had five points, two rebounds and three assists in 33 minutes of action. Gabbi Wright (Elkins Park, Pa./Cheltenham) and Zoe Zerman (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon) each added four points for KU, and grabbed five and four rebounds respectively.
 
Kutztown remains in Erie to take on Gannon tomorrow, Wednesday, at 5:30 p.m.