Schedule | Roster
 
KUTZTOWN, Pa. – When the Kutztown University women's basketball team steps onto the court this season, it will have some familiar faces, but also plenty of new ones, as KU celebrates 50 years as a program this winter.
 
When the Golden Bears begin the 2021-22 regular season across the country in Montana, on Friday, Nov. 5, there will be a mixture of experience and youth on the floor. There are eight upperclassmen who were on the roster the last time KU competed back in 2019-20. The last game was on March 2, 2020. Rylee Derr (Lititz, Pa./Warwick), Alexis Smith (Dauphin, Pa./Central Dauphin), Presley Berryhill (New Oxford, Pa./New Oxford), Casey Remolde (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Basil Academy), Annie Whalen (Ivyland, Pa./Archbishop Wood), Sydney Pierson (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown), Sam Mikos (Freehold, N.J./Saint Rose) and Abby Goodrich (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford) return. Only Derr, Smith and Berryhill, however, have more than one collegiate season under their belts. So, there will still be some growing pains and learning from a majority of the roster.
 
There was no season last year due to the pandemic, but Kutztown was still able to get together and practice on occasion. According to head coach Janet Malouf, entering her 27th season at the helm, that short amount of time together still was beneficial for her program.
 
"Last year we weren't able to do a whole lot," said Malouf. "But we were able to spend some time together in the gym and I think that really helped with our development. We have a lot of younger players who haven't played a collegiate game yet. Our sophomore class are still like freshmen, so that's two classes of players that don't know the college game."
 
Derr is the leader and most experienced player, outside of Smith. The graduate student is averaging 15.4 points per game throughout her career and has scored 1,382 points, which ranks second in program history. She needs 242 points to become the program's all-time leading scorer. Derr holds the program record for made three-pointers with 256.
 
"Rylee has been great to coach," Malouf said. "She is one of the all-time greats in our program and we were very happy when she decided to come back and play one final season here."
 
Smith is another seasoned veteran that has played in 68 career games and has 95 career three-pointers. Her and Derr will lead a healthy dose of perimeter shooters on a team that made 231 from long range in 2019-20, tops in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
 
Berryhill rounds out the senior class and will provide depth to the guard rotation.
 
Remolde had a breakout freshman campaign in 2019-20, earning PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Year recognition. The All-PSAC East Second Teamer ranked second in the conference with 63 blocks.
 
Whalen and Pierson were both key role players off the bench as freshmen, but will both be asked for bigger contributions this season. Whalen played in all 29 games the last season of competition and averaged 6.7 ppg in 19.3 minutes per game. Pierson played in 27 games, making three starts, and was second on the team with 27 blocks.
 
Mikos and Goodrich will also be upperclassmen Malouf will look to. Mikos played in 18 games as a freshman. Goodrich is set to take to the court for the first time in Maroon and Gold after missing her freshman season due to injury.
 
"We're going to be relying on our upperclassmen for guidance and leadership," said Malouf. "With a younger roster overall, there is an importance in having our older players there for support outside of Justin [Hallman] and I."
 
Kutztown has three sophomores, including Abbey Hearn (Lewes, Del./Cape Henlopen), Skyler West (York Springs, Pa./Bermudian Springs) and Zara Zerman (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon), and four freshmen, in Bella Arcuri (Fallsington, Pa./Pennsbury), Noelle Baxter (Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood), Naia Pulliam (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) and Shannon Remolde (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Basil Academy). Malouf is excited to see this group get out and compete in a collegiate game and expects each of them to contribute.
 
"I'm excited to see what we actually have from our sophomores and freshmen," Malouf said. "They've worked hard and I think they're ready to finally get going and play."
 
The Golden Bears program will be celebrating 50 Years of Women's Basketball throughout the season, culminating with the celebration event on Saturday, Feb. 5, when KU hosts Lock Haven at 3 p.m.
 
Kutztown begins its 2021-22 campaign in Billings, Mont. KU opens with the University of Mary on Friday, Nov. 5, at 2:15 p.m. The Maroon and Gold will play three games in three days, with contests against Minot State on Saturday and Montana State on Sunday. The home opener is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 17, against Adelphi at 5:30 p.m., from Keystone Arena.