KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Kutztown put on a defensive clinic in the second half of its 66-51 PSAC Eastern Division comeback victory over Shippensburg Monday night at Keystone Arena. The Golden Bears held the visiting Raiders to just 10 points on 3-of-23 shooting in the final 20 minutes, wiping out what was once a 15-point deficit for its seventh straight win.
 
Helping the Maroon and Gold on the offensive end were freshman Naia Pulliam (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth), who had a career- and game-high 18 points, including nine in the fourth quarter, and Abbey Hearn (Lewes, Del./Cape Henlopen), who totaled 15 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.
 
Shippensburg (7-5, 3-2 PSAC) dictated the terms early, scoring on 12 of their 19 possessions in the first quarter to grab a 25-15 lead. Playing their first game since Dec. 19, the Raiders looked refreshed by connecting on 10-of-15 shots (2-of-3 3FG). Lauren Mills alone was 5-of-6 for 10 points, while Taja Colbert made a pair of early buckets for five points.
 
Slowed by 10 first-half turnovers and Shippensburg's continued effectiveness on offense, the Golden Bears (13-3, 6-1 PSAC) saw the gap grow to 15, 39-24, on a Destiny Jefferson jumper with 3:02 left in the second quarter. Buckets from Pulliam and Hearn pulled KU within 41-30 at the half.
 
Whatever was relayed to the team in the locker room at halftime by head coach Janet Malouf, less than a week removed from her 400^th career victory, was taken to heart by her team.
 
Kutztown came out on a mission in the third, disrupting multiple shots and passing lanes to outscore the Raiders 18-8 and close within one, 49-48, by the buzzer. Hearn had six points in the quarter, while Rylee Derr (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) and Casey Remolde (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) added four.
 
It got even better for the Bears in the fourth.
 
Pulliam finished off a pass from Alexis Smith (Dauphin, Pa./Central Dauphin) to put the hosts in front for good, 50-49, with 8:33 to play and the Wilmington, Del., native went on to score the first nine points of the quarter as part of a 14-0 run. That run spanned the first 8:21 of the quarter and left a worn-down Shippensburg side looking up at a 62-49 deficit with far too little time to do anything about it.
 
Shippensburg scored just two points on 1-of-12 shooting in the fourth and were just 3-of-18 from 3-point range on the night (1-of-15 from the second quarter on). Kutztown's 10 points allowed in the second half were its fewest given up in a half since Mansfield scored seven in the first half of a 62-39 loss to the Bears at Keystone Arena, Feb. 8, 2017.
 
Pulliam recorded her fifth double-digit scoring game of the season with a solid 7-of-12 effort from the floor (2-of-3 3FG). She also grabbed seven rebounds, one off her season-high. Hearn was all over the scoresheet, setting a career-high with nine boards and nearly securing her first career double-double. The sophomore from Lewes, Del., has eight blocked shots in her last two games.
 
Remolde, Kutztown's leading shot-blocker for the season, had two more Monday, but did most of her damage on the glass. She tied a career-high with 12 rebounds, tops in the game. Remolde also had eight points.
 
Derr finished with nine points, boosting her career total to 1,609, 15 shy of overtaking Melissa McQuade (1,623) for the program's all-time scoring record.
 
Annie Whalen (Ivyland, Pa./Archbishop Wood) added eight points, Zara Zerman (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon) had a game-high six assists and three steals and Smith had three steals.
 
Kutztown shot 26-of-63 (41.3%), while Shippensburg's cooled off to 35.6% (21-of-59) with its 3-of-23 second half. Aunbrielle Green led the Raiders with 17 points and seven boards. Jefferson and Mills joined her in double figures with 10 points apiece, though Mills was held scoreless after the first quarter.

Kutztown's seven-game win streak is tied for the second-longest in program history (1989-90 and inaugural varsity season of 1971). In 1972, KU won its final 10 games to finish with a 10-1 record.
 
The Golden Bears will travel to Lock Haven for another PSAC East battle Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., before returning home to face Mercyhurst Saturday at 1 p.m.