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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University women's basketball team will make the long trip to Lock Haven University for its final regular season contest, squaring off with the Bald Eagles on Saturday, Feb. 24, before returning home to host a first-round Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) playoff game at Keystone Arena on Feb. 26. Tip-off from Thomas Fieldhouse is scheduled for 2 p.m.
While the Golden Bears know they are in the playoffs and that they will be in the comforts of their home gym in the first round, a lot still remains to be decided in the PSAC Eastern Division playoff picture. KU (16-11, 11-10 PSAC) is deadlocked with Millersville (14-11, 11-10) in the race for the third spot with the Marauders holding the tiebreaker, winning both head-to-head meetings this season.
Millersville has the tall task, however, of getting a road victory at second-place East Stroudsburg on Saturday to secure the three seed, facing a hungry ESU team who has now lost three-in-a-row.
Kutztown, while facing a long road trip to LHU, has won three of its last four road games and will matchup with a last-place Bald Eagle squad, which has lost three straight and seven of its last nine.
KU will be looking for its first season sweep of Lock Haven since the Bald Eagles joined the Eastern Division during the 2012-13 campaign.
If Millersville wins or if both MU and KU lose, the Maroon and Gold will be the four seed and take on Bloomsburg, which is locked in at the five-spot, in a first-round PSAC playoff game. A Marauder loss and KU win, however, would mean the three-seed for Kutztown and a matchup with either Shippensburg or Mansfield, whom are battling for the six-seed on Saturday. Shippensburg needs a win over Bloomsburg to punch its playoff ticket while Mansfield needs a victory at Cheyney and a Shippensburg loss to advance to the postseason.
To add to Saturday's playoff drama, the Golden Bears have two players on the cusp of milestones in
Keifonna Ferguson (Norristown, Pa./Norristown Area) and
Rylee Derr (Lititz, Pa./Warwick). Ferguson has totaled 495 career rebounds, five shy of the 500-mark for the senior from Norristown. Derr has scored 364 points this season and needs just 18 more to pass Patty Gruber's KU freshman record of 381 points, set in 1986. The freshman from Warwick has made 77 three-pointers this year, most in the PSAC, and is also on pace to pass Rachel Wisemiller for the second-most triples in a season by a Golden Bear (81).
With all that hangs in the balance, Saturday's game against LHU is an important one for head coach
Janet Malouf and her team, who will be looking to keep it rolling, having won four of five games, as it heads into the PSAC playoffs. Kutztown and Lock Haven battled in their previous meeting at Keystone Arena on Jan. 24, but KU came out on top, winning 73-62. The freshmen duo of Derr and
Alexis Smith (Dauphin, Pa./Central Dauphin) combined for 38 points, making six three-pointers and going a perfect 12-of-12 from the free-throw line to pace their team's offensive effort.
Karen Lapkiewicz (Southampton, Pa./Saint Basil Academy), who has now scored in double-figures in five of the last eight games, delivered a well-rounded performance with eight points, six rebounds and seven assists.
The Bald Eagles' leading scorer, Rileigh Devine, averaging 11.2 ppg, scored 16 points for Lock Haven, but also committed six turnovers. Kayla Henderson also had a solid game on the inside for LHU, chipping in 16 points of her own on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. The Maroon and Gold scored 21 points off of 20 Bald Eagle turnovers and had 15 second-chance points, converting their high-pressure defensive style into easy offensive opportunities in transition.
KU will look to use a similar recipe to defeat Lock Haven on Saturday, employing its pressure defense and using that to create open shots both inside and on the perimeter. If everything goes to plan, the Golden Bears could notch their 17th win of the season. However, if Lock Haven is able to take care of the basketball and force the Maroon and Gold into tough, contested shots, this one could go right down to the wire.
Live stats, live video and game notes will be available via the links above, which are also accessible on www.kubears.com.
