KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University women's basketball team honored its five seniors the right way, with a send-off victory. KU used a strong second half to take down the top-seed Shippensburg University 70-62 Saturday afternoon in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East Division regular season finale for both teams.
 
The Golden Bears (18-10 overall, 15-7 PSAC), who had already clinched a spot in next week's PSAC Tournament, earned the three seed and will host a First-Round game against the sixth seed Bloomsburg on Monday, March 2, at 7p.m., at Keystone Arena. There was a chance to secure the second seed and a First-Round bye, but East Stroudsburg, which won both regular season games over KU this season, won its game against West Chester 51-43, and is the two seed.
 
Kaylan Jackson (Germantown, Md./Clarksburg), Gabbi Wright (Elkins Park, Pa./Cheltenham), Alex Leader (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin), Brianna Tarabocchia (Woodcliff Lake, N.J./Northern Valley Regional) and Karen Lapkiewicz (Southampton, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) were recognized prior to Saturday's tip off for their careers in Maroon and Gold.
 
Rylee Derr (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) tied a game-high with 22 points and recorded her fourth double-double of the year, grabbing 11 rebounds to go along with her scoring total. Three other Golden Bears finished in double-figures. Casey Remolde (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) tallied 16 points, five rebounds and three blocks. Alexis Smith (Dauphin, Pa./Central Dauphin) contributed 11 points, three rebounds and two steals, and Zoe Zerman (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon) had 10 points, five rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks.
 
The Kutztown defense held the Raiders (20-8, 17-5) leading scorer and the conference's third-leading scorer, Ariel Jones, to nine points below her season average of 22.3 ppg. Jones, primarily guarded by Jackson, Remolde and Annie Wright, finished with just 13 points on 3-of-23 shooting from the floor and 0-for-9 from downtown.
 
The Golden Bears led 17-16 after the opening quarter, but found themselves behind 34-33 at halftime. KU stepped up in the second half, outscoring Shippensburg 20-15 in the third quarter and 17-13 in the fourth to take control of the game and earn the victory.
 
Whalen finished with five points and three rebounds, Tarabocchia added four points, four rebounds and two blocks, and Wright chipped in two points and two rebounds to round out the KU scoring.
 
Kutztown will now host the sixth seed Bloomsburg in the PSAC First Round on Monday, March 2, at 7 p.m., at Keystone Arena.