KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University women's basketball team opened the new calendar year in style by defeating West Chester University 64-53 Wednesday night at Keystone Arena in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division opener for both teams. In doing so, head coach
Janet Malouf earned career victory number 400.
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Malouf is the program's all-time winningest coach and is in her 27th season at the helm.
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The Golden Bears (11-3 overall, 4-1 PSAC) had not played in 17 days, but that did not matter as they kept their winning streak going, extending it to five wins in-a-row.
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Four different players scored in double-figures led by 15 from
Casey Remolde (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Basil Academy). The junior just missed out on her second double-double of the season, grabbing nine rebounds and finishing with two blocks. She leads the PSAC with 33 blocks, which also ranks seventh in Division II.
Rylee Derr (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) did record a double-double, finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds. She is 37 points shy of the program's all-time career scoring record.
Alexis Smith (Dauphin, Pa./Central Dauphin) and
Annie Whalen (Ivyland, Pa./Archbishop Wood) also tallied 11 points, each connecting on three 3-pointers.
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Even with the layoff, Kutztown came out shooting well, netting nine of the game's first 11 points and ended the first quarter with a 23-15 lead. The second quarter was more of a defensive battle by both teams as KU outscored the Golden Rams (3-9, 1-5) 9-6 and took a double-digit advantage (32-21) into halftime.
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The Maroon and Gold continued its prowess on both ends of the floor, taking as much as a 16-point lead (42-26) at the 5:17 mark of the third, and finished the frame ahead 45-32. But West Chester did not go away. WCU pulled to within single digits (54-46) with 4:10 left to play, and found itself down by just five (58-53) with 1:22 to go. But Derr, Remolde and
Zara Zerman (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon) combined to go 4-for-6 from the line and KU made some stops on defense to hold on for the win.
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Zerman finished with eight points and tied a season-high with six assists.
Abbey Hearn (Lewes, Del./Cape Henlopen) had four points, six rebounds, two assists and one block, and both
Naia Pulliam (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) and
Noelle Baxter (Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood) contributed two points, with the former grabbing three rebounds.
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Kutztown is scheduled to play at East Stroudsburg on Saturday, Jan. 8, at 1 p.m., from Koehler Fieldhouse.
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