KUTZTOWN, Pa. –
Naia Pulliam (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) recorded a season-high 27 points to help lead Kutztown women's basketball to its first win of the 2023-24 campaign, downing Georgian Court 74-66 Wednesday night in a non-conference game inside Keystone Arena.
Pulliam shot 69.2% (9-of-13) from the floor and 71.4% (5-of-7) from three, while grabbing six rebounds in a team-high 34 minutes, to pace a Golden Bears (1-2 overall) offense that had two others in double figures in scoring and one just outside of it.
Abbey Hearn (Lewes, Del./Cape Henlopen) tallied 12 points, six rebounds and five assists and
Casey Remolde (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) recorded 10 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and one steal.
Zara Zerman (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon) finished with nine points, five assists, three rebounds and three steals.
Kutztown had to shake off a slow start as the Lions (0-3) scored 12 of the game's first 15 points in the opening 4:11, and after a three-pointer by Paula Perez, Georgian Court was ahead by double digits at 18-6 with 4:03 left in the opening quarter. KU ended the quarter on a 13-4 run and found itself behind just 22-19.
Back-to-back layups by Pulliam and Hearn in the first 2:31 of the second quarter gave their team the first lead of the game since the 8:43 mark of the first. In a back-and-forth second quarter, the Maroon and Gold went into the halftime locker room leading 35-31. The Golden Bears extended their advantage into double figures at 48-38, 5:18 into the third after two straight three-pointers by Pulliam, but the Lions would not go away and cut their deficit to just two (54-52) heading into the final frame.
Georgian Court then scored the first six points of the fourth and were on top 58-54 with 7:55 to go, but Remolde connected from long range and then hit two-of-two at the free-throw line to give her team the lead back at 60-58, one which they would not relinquish the rest of the way.
Sydney Pierson (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) recorded three points and tied a team-high with nine rebounds.
Shannon Remolde (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) contributed five points, two rebounds and one steal and both
Leila Hurley (Jim Thorpe, Pa./Jim Thorpe) and
Olivia Smelas (Jim Thorpe, Pa./Jim Thorpe) added four points each.
Kutztown has another home, non-conference game this weekend when it takes on Jefferson on Saturday, Nov. 18, at 1 p.m., from Keystone Arena.
