SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- It took a half for the Kutztown University women's basketball team to shake off the rust from a 10-day layoff that encompassed finals week, but when they finally got going, Slippery Rock had no answers.

Rylee Derr (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) scored 16 of her game-high 24 points in the third quarter when the Golden Bears outscored The Rock 27-4 and KU went on to its eighth win in nine games, 62-47, in Saturday afternoon's PSAC crossover at Morrow Field House.

Though Kutztown committed 10 first-quarter turnovers (four on offensive fouls), it kept the game relatively even on the scoreboard, trailing by just a point, 15-14, after 10 minutes of play.

The Golden Bears cut down on the giveaways in the second, but shot just 4-of-15 from the floor and 0-of-6 from three (2-of-12 in the first half) as The Rock extended their lead to 32-25 at the half.

While the offense was trying to get in gear, Kutztown's (9-3, 2-1 PSAC) defense never relented. Despite some foul concerns on the interior, the Bears collectively swarmed to the ball and double-teamed the PSAC's fourth-leading scorer Jamiyah Johnson, limiting the graduate center to six points on 2-of-7 shooting in the opening half.

When KU emerged from the locker room for the third quarter, the switch flipped on.

Derr knocked down a pair of triples to quickly cut The Rock's lead to one. Even though Johnson answered with back-to-back buckets, her layup with 7:41 to go would mark Slippery Rock's (5-3, 1-2 PSAC) final points of the quarter.

The Maroon and Gold regained the lead for the first time since early in the first quarter, 38-36, on Naia Pulliam's (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) layup with 4:00 remaining in the third, which was set up by a steal and dish from Derr.

Kutztown wasn't done yet, either. Remolde sandwiched a pair of layups around Derr's third 3-pointer of the quarter to make it 45-36 in favor of the Bears before a wild finish to the quarter.

With two seconds remaining, Derr drove down the lane and scored, but the basket was waved off as the referees signaled a charge. The call was overturned to a blocking foul on Johnson, who had been positioned in the restricted arc underneath the hoop. That drew the ire of Rock head coach Bobby McGraw, who was hit with a technical foul.

When all the dust settled, Derr converted the 3-point play and Zara Zerman (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon) drained the technical shots. The duo then ended the quarter with a quick connection as Zerman found Derr underneath for a layup at the buzzer that pushed KU's lead to 52-36.

Remolde, the PSAC's leading shot-blocker, boosted her season total to 28 with all four of her denials Saturday coming in the third quarter. She's already jumped to eighth on the program's all-time blocks list in less than a season and a half and is nine blocks shy of becoming the seventh player to reach the century mark in team history.

The Rock held KU to 1-of-11 shooting in the fourth quarter, but could not put a scare into Janet Malouf's club, shooting just 3-of-11 themselves. The Golden Bears were strong at the foul line, converting 8-of-10 attempts over the final 10 minutes.

Derr surpassed the 20-point mark for the third time in her last four games and fourth time this season as she inches closer to KU history. The senior guard from Lititz, Pa., is up to 1,565 career points, 58 shy of Melissa McQuade's (2007-11) program scoring record of 1,623.

Malouf, now in her 27th season, drew nearer to a professional milestone, too, notching win No. 398. The program's all-time leader in wins, Malouf ranks 26th among active NCAA Division II coaches in victories.

In addition to leading the team in scoring, Derr also paced KU with seven rebounds. Remolde had another fine performance in all phases with 13 points, six rebounds and the four blocks. Pulliam came off the bench to provide 10 points --one off her season-high.

Kutztown shot 39.6% overall (21-of-53) and 78.9% at the charity stripe (15-of-19). They controlled the boards 43-34, while holding edges in bench points (16-6) and points in the paint (26-22).

Johnson led The Rock with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for her ninth double-double in as many games this season. Anyah Curd chipped in with 10 points, but SRU struggled to an inefficent afternoon against the Golden Bears' defense, making just 17-of-60 shots (28.3%) and 4-of-28 from downtown (14.3%).

Kutztown, currently ranked seventh in the D2SIDA Atlantic Region rankings, travels to Edinboro Sunday for a 1 p.m. start in its final game of the 2021 calendar year.