EDINBORO, Pa. -- It wasn't easy, but in the end, Kutztown University women's basketball is coming home with a pair of PSAC wins and that is the only thing that matters.

On a tough shooting day for both sides, the Golden Bears stepped up in the final minutes when they needed points the most, pulling out a 46-42 win over Edinboro in conference crossover action Sunday afternoon.

It was the 399th career victory for Janet Malouf, now in her 27th season leading the Maroon and Gold. Her first opportunity to reach the 400-win milestone will come Sunday, Jan. 2, back out west at Cal U after Kutztown finished the 2021 portion of its schedule with a 10-3 overall record (3-1 PSAC) --the program's most wins heading into a new calendar year. KU's previous best was eight wins in 2001 (going into 2002) and 2008 (into 2009).

The Golden Bears fell behind by seven late in the first quarter, but Casey Remolde (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) and Rylee Derr (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) drilled threes on consecutive possessions to draw the visitors back within 12-11. Edinboro (5-3, 3-1 PSAC) got a late layup to take a three-point edge to the second quarter, where neither team would find success.

The two teams combined to shoot 5-of-29 and misfired on all eight 3-point attempts. The result was 10 points between them with Kutztown holding a slight 6-4 edge to trail by one at the break, 18-17.

Points were hard to come by throughout, but the Bears would take a 24-23 lead on Alexis Smith's (Dauphin, Pa./Central Dauphin) layup with 7:30 to go and grabbed it back shortly thereafter when Zara Zerman (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon) answered a Fighting Scots three with one of her own for a 27-26 edge.

Tied at 31 heading to the fourth, KU and Edinboro swapped the lead four times until Derr put the Bears in front for good, 41-39, on a driving layup with 2:36 to go. Though KU shot just 31.6% (18-of-57) on the day, Derr's basket was the first of three successful attempts in a row that helped the Bears pull out the win.

Remolde drove to her left, slicing through the Edinboro defense for two with 1:03 remaining that made it 43-40 and Naia Pulliam (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) converted in the final 30 seconds to keep the lead at three.

Pulliam and Remolde made sure the lead remained intact by coming up with blocks in the final seconds. Pulliam denied a Haley Sims 3-pointer with 10 seconds to go and Remolde got a hand on Rana Elhusseini's tying bid one possession later.

Derr and Remolde each finished with 11 points and nine rebounds, sharing the team-high in both categories for the Golden Bears. Remolde also had three blocks, as did Sydney Pierson (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown). Kutztown hit the boards hard. All nine players that Malouf put on the court had at least one rebound. Pulliam, Zerman and Abbey Hearn (Lewes, Del./Cape Henlopen) had six apiece and the Bears won that battle handily, 49-36.

Zerman tallied eight points, Pulliam seven, Smith five and Annie Whalen (Ivyland, Pa./Archbishop Wood) four for KU.

Gillian Fisher scored a game-high 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting for the Fighting Scots. Elhusseini had nine points and Bella Burrelli had seven to go with a game-high 12 rebounds and three blocks.

Kutztown picked up its third win in its last four games at McComb Fieldhouse dating back to 2013 and its fourth win over the Fighting Scots in its last seven. Prior to that stretch, Edinboro had won 15 in a row in the series between 1991-2012.

The Golden Bears will resume their quest to stay atop the PSAC East following the holiday break when they make the journey out to Cal U on Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022.