EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. -- Heading into the final week of the regular season, the equation was simple for the Kutztown University women's basketball team. Win two games, clinch the PSAC East's top seed.
 
An East Stroudsburg side scrapping for its playoff hopes put a Golden Bear victory in jeopardy for more than three quarters Wednesday evening, but sophomore scoring leader Rylee Derr (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) registered 13 of her game-high 24 points in the fourth to help Kutztown escape Koehler Fieldhouse with a 62-54 victory.
 
Noelle Powell scored six quick points and the Warriors' defense held KU without a field goal for more than seven minutes as ESU pulled ahead 8-1.
 
The Golden Bears (13-6 PSAC, 16-11) trailed by six after a quarter and 32-22 at the half after shooting just 25% (7-of-28) and committing 11 turnovers.
 
Giveaways continued to hamper the Maroon and Gold at the onset of the second half. KU turned the ball over on six of its first seven possessions to start the third quarter, which allowed an ESU (8-11, 11-15) team coming off wins over playoff-bound Bloomsburg and West Chester to run its lead to 16, 40-26.
 
Things started to shift Kutztown's way late in the period. Gabbi Wright (Elkins Park, Pa./Cheltenham) scored five points, Karen Lapkiewicz (Southampton, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) and Alexis Smith (Dauphin, Pa./Central Dauphin) hit 3-pointers, and the defense stepped up to create four turnovers as KU trimmed ESU's lead to five, 44-39, by the third quarter buzzer.
 
The Warriors continued to maintain their game-long edge through the midway point of the fourth, but a simmering Derr was just waiting to explode. The Lititz native threw a great pump fake to evade an ESU defender on the right wing and drilled her first of three fourth-quarter triples to pull Kutztown within 46-45 with 5:47 remaining.
 
Three possessions later, with ESU ice cold from the floor and the Bears still down one, Wright converted a pair of freebies to give the guests their first lead of the game, 47-46 at the 3:56 mark.
 
Derr would get free on the right wing again following Kalee Fuegel's (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) game-high fourth steal of the game and bury another shot for a four-point KU cushion, 50-46, with 3:34 to go. In all, Derr scored 13 of her team's final 20 points.
 
Kutztown flipped its fortunes with a 10-of-21 effort (47.6%) from the floor in the second half. The Golden Bears were strong at the foul line, too, going 15-of-19, while the Warriors made 11-of-20.
 
The host Warriors, try as they might, simply couldn't break KU's defense in the final 20 minutes. ESU was just 5-of-26 shooting and 1-of-14 from downtown after halftime.
 
Derr's 24 points came on 7-of-11 shooting (4-of-6 3FG) and a perfect 6-of-6 performance at the charity stripe. Wright knocked down a team-high eight free throws and scored 12 points before fouling out late. Smith had nine points, all on threes, while Lapkiewicz totaled six points and a game-high eight rebounds. Fuegel added six boards and four steals.
 
Powell was the only Warrior in double figures with 14 points, though Marlene Bassett and Tiffany Lapotsky each finished with nine. Kutztown was plus-9 on the boards, 38-29, and had 13 second-chance points to ESU's four.
 
The Golden Bears, who have already secured a home PSAC quarterfinal game on Wednesday, March 6, will look to close out the regular season with a win over Lock Haven on Saturday at 1 p.m. A victory would lock KU in as the East's top seed heading into next week's conference tournament. The highest remaining East seed will host this year's semifinal and championship games.
 
Prior to Saturday's game, Kutztown will honor senior student-athletes Fuegel and Taylor Thames (Colmar, Pa./North Penn), along with senior team manager Heather Ramp.