UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Karen Lapkiewicz (Southampton, Pa./Saint Basil Academy), Casey Remolde (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) and Alexis Smith (Dauphin, Pa./Central Dauphin) each scored in double figures, and the Kutztown University women's basketball team competed to the buzzer in a 64-44 exhibition loss to Division I Penn State at the Bryce Jordan Center Friday evening.

Remolde was ready to play from the opening tip, impressing in her Golden Bear debut with a 3-of-3 effort from the floor to account for all seven of Kutztown's points in the first quarter. Understandably, there were some early jitters to work out. The Golden Bears committed 10 turnovers in the opening period and outside of Remolde were 0-of-13 from the floor.
 
That changed at the start of the second. Smith slashed to the rim for two, Remolde added a layup and Lapkiewicz connected from downtown to cap a 7-0 run that pulled the visitors within 19-14 less than two minutes into the quarter.
 
Penn State eventually regained its footing, outscoring the Bears 12-4 the rest of the way to lead 31-18 at half.

Smith stepped up in the third, scoring seven of the Golden Bears' nine points. The Big Ten's Lady Lions used their size, speed and depth to steadily pull out a 28-point lead with 3:18 to play, but Kutztown closed the game on an 8-0 run with Kaylan Jackson (Germantown, Md./Clarksburg) chipping in five points and Sydney Pierson (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) three. KU equaled Penn State's output in the fourth quarter, 17-17.

Lapkiewicz and Smith finished with 11 points apiece for the Golden Bears, who turn around to play another exhibition at Division I Iona in less than 24 hours. Lapkiewicz connected on 4-of-5 shots, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Smith was 4-of-9 and also grabbed four boards.

Remolde scored all 10 of her points in the first half and registered a team-high seven rebounds on the night. Brianna Tarabocchia (Woodcliff Lake, N.J./Northern Valley Regional) had a bucket and Presley Berryhill (New Oxford, Pa./New Oxford) made a pair of free throws for KU.

Both teams struggled to find a rhythm with a combined 59 turnovers and 36 fouls in the game. Penn State shot 34.9% (22-of-63), while the Golden Bears were limited to 25.8% (16-of-62).

Kamaria McDaniel scored a game-high 25 points to lead the host Lady Lions and manufactured a double-double with 10 rebounds. Mya Bembry added eight points and eight boards. Siyeh Frazier was also active on the glass with nine rebounds as PSU held a 52-39 advantage.

Five players had multiple steals for the Maroon and Gold, which totaled 12 as a team. Lapkiewicz had three, while Berryhill, Remolde, Tarabocchia and Annie Whalen (Ivyland, Pa./Archbishop Wood) each had two.

The defending PSAC East champion Golden Bears travel to New Rochelle, New York, to take on Iona at the newly-renovated Hynes Center in their final exhibition game on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Kutztown's regular season begins next Friday at Lincoln (Pa.) in the PSAC/CIAA Challenge.