BILLINGS, Mont. -- The Kutztown University women's basketball team overcame an 8-point deficit in the third quarter and outscored UMary 16-10 over the final 10 minutes to pick up a 65-59 season-opening victory at the D2CCA Tipoff Classic at the Trailhead Friday afternoon.
The Golden Bears got 14 points from Abbey Hearn (Lewes, Del./Cape Henlopen), 13 from Zara Zerman (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon) and 12 from reigning PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Year Casey Remolde (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) in the program's first-ever game in the state of Montana.
In a back-and-forth first quarter, it was Kutztown (1-0) that struck last, getting the final four points on layups by Noelle Baxter (Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood) and Bella Arcuri (Fallsington, Pa./Pennsbury) to take an 18-17 lead. The Marauders responded with a strong defensive showing in the second, holding KU to 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting to go in front 34-28 at the half.
Hearn led the way with 10 points and eight different players found their way onto the scoresheet for the Maroon and Gold. Lexie Schneider did much of the damage for UMary (0-1), scoring 17 on 7-of-9 shooting, but Kutztown would make the proper adjustments on the Marauders' leading-scorer over the final 20 minutes.
A 3-pointer from Megan Voit upped UMary's advantage to 40-32 with 6:21 left in the third, but KU fired back with consecutive threes from Zerman and eventually went back in front, 45-43, on a trey from Annie Whalen (Ivyland, Pa./Archbishop Wood) with 2:33 remaining. Hearn beat the buzzer with a triple from the right wing to knot the score at 49 at the end of the third.
Kutztown quickly reestablished a lead on two Remolde free throws and managed to keep UMary at bay for much of the fourth quarter behind a stellar defensive effort. The Marauders scored just 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting and committed five turnovers. While the Bears were just 1-of-12 from the floor in the final quarter, they did not give the ball away once and buried 14-of-17 attempts at the foul line (82.4%).
Hearn captured Player of the Game honors with 14 points and seven rebounds in her first collegiate action. Remolde added a team-high eight rebounds and three steals to go along with her 12 points, while Zerman was 3-of-4 from deep and 4-of-4 at the charity stripe to accont for her 13 points. Arcuri and Whalen each had seven points.
Schnieder scored a team-high 20 points, but the Golden Bears shut her down in the second half. They allowed the forward to get off just one shot attempt and score three points --all at the foul line. Voit tried to pick up some of the slack with 11 of her 16 points after the break and Megan Zander finished with 12 points.
Kutztown plays its second of three weekend games in the tournament Saturday afternoon against Minot State. Tipoff is at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
