KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- Karen Lapkiewicz (Southampton, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) scored 20 points and the Kutztown University women's basketball team used a 15-2 third-quarter surge to break away from Millersville for a 78-63 PSAC Eastern Division victory Monday night at Keystone Arena.

Neither team held a lead of more than five points during the first half in a game that had the makings of going right to the wire. That was until the Golden Bears, down 42-39, made six of their final seven shots in the third quarter to put the Marauders in a hole they could not climb out of.

Zoe Zerman (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon) had four points, while Rylee Derr (Lititz, Pa./Warwick), Alexis Smith (Dauphin, Pa./Central Dauphin) and Lapkiewicz all connected from long distance during the run. Derr found Presley Berryhill (New Oxford, Pa./New Oxford) for a layup at the buzzer for a 54-44 KU lead.

Kutztown (9-9, 7-4 PSAC) led by double-digits for all but 21 seconds the rest of the way. The hosts shot just 2-of-12 from 3-point range and 12-of-32 overall in the first half as they tried to shake the dry spells that plagued them in a loss to Mansfield last Wednesday.

Still, the Golden Bears managed to hammer the glass, outrebounding the Marauders (6-11, 3-7) 22-12 in the first 20 minutes and grabbing 11 offensive boards. That work in the trenches was crucial in KU taking a 30-29 lead to the locker room.

Lapkiewicz went 6-of-10 for 13 points in the second half, Derr knocked down a pair of 3's --her 40th straight game with at least one-- and Zerman had all eight of her points as Kutztown got it all to click in the second half.

Head coach Janet Malouf's squad converted on 59.4% (19-of-32) of its field goal attempts across the third and fourth quarters and made 4-of-5 attempts from deep.

The Golden Bears continued their rebounding prowess over Millersville with a 44-20 advantage in the game. Kutztown controlled the paint, outscoring the Marauders a whopping 50-12 inside.

Derr provided a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds, and was just three assists shy of a triple-double. Lapkiewicz grabbed nine rebounds to go with her team-high 20 points. Brianna Tarabocchia (Woodcliff Lake, N.J./Northern Valley Regional (Saint Peter's)) finished with 12 points and Gabbi Wright (Elkins Park, Pa./Cheltenham) had 11 off the bench.

As well as KU's offense played in the second half, the Golden Bears' defense was just as good.

Millersville's Lauren Lister, who came in third in the PSAC in scoring at nearly 22 points per game, was held to seven on 2-of-9 shooting. A career-high 23 points and six 3-pointers from Olivia Mottern kept the Marauders in the game most of the way. Samantha Brusha and Courtney Dimoff each finished in double figures with 13 and 10, respectively.

Kutztown, which gets a few days to recover with a midweek bye, will be back on its home floor Saturday at 1 p.m. to face East Stroudsburg.