ERIE, Pa. – Kutztown women's basketball was looking to upset seventh-ranked Gannon and give it just its second loss of the season and first in conference, but the Golden Knights pulled away in the fourth quarter and won 82-70 Monday night in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover matchup in Erie.
The Golden Bears (2-7 overall, 0-3 PSAC) were coming off a thrilling, two-point victory in their last game, nine days ago, back on Dec. 9, at Chestnut Hill.
Abbey Hearn (Lewes, Del./Cape Henlopen) led the KU offense with 19 points, three rebounds and three blocks.
Naia Pulliam (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) tallied 12 points and five assists and
Leila Hurley (Jim Thorpe, Pa./Jim Thorpe) finished with 11 points to round out the trio in double figures.
Casey Remolde (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) and
Olivia Smelas (Jim Thorpe, Pa./Jim Thorpe) were just shy of double digits, finishing with nine points and eight points, respectively, the latter adding five rebounds and three steals.
The Golden Knights (11-1) opened the game scoring the first four points, 1:54 in. Smelas connected on a layup 3:08 off the clock for KU's first points of the game and then also erased a quarter-high, five-point deficit (12-7) with a jumper 0:59 left to cut the deficit to 12-9 after one. Gannon extended its lead back to five within the opening 0:25 of the second quarter, but the Maroon and Gold would tie the score at 14-14 after two Pulliam free-throws and a three-pointer by Hearn. Hearn then connected for two baskets on back-to-back offensive possessions to give her team an 18-14 lead. Kutztown had its largest lead of the game at six (22-16) after
Taylor Gurysh (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) made a shot from long distance with 5:42 left in the frame. The Golden Knights then went on a 15-5 run to finish off the quarter and go into the locker room at halftime on top 31-27.
The Gannon lead extended into double figures after they scored the third period's first six points in the opening 1:57. The Golden Bears cut it to five (37-32) following a Pulliam three, but the Golden Knights walked off the court after the third ahead 59-47. A three-pointer to open the fourth gave them their largest lead of the game at 15 (62-47), but the Maroon and Gold would not go down easily, pulling to within as close as seven points (66-59) with 5:47 remaining after Remolde went 3-for-4 at the charity stripe. Gannon's advantage quickly went back into double figures, however, and it ended that way.
Kutztown will play its last game before the Christmas break as it is back on the court at Clarion in PSAC crossover action Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m.
