KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Kutztown women's basketball shot 43.1% from the floor in the first half and led going into halftime, but the shooting went cold in the second half as Mercyhurst shot 50% in the third quarter and surged in the second half on its way to a 62-54 victory in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover action Saturday afternoon inside Keystone Arena.
 
The Golden Bears (1-6 overall, 0-2 PSAC) are still searching for their first conference win on the year. They were led in scoring with a game-high 16 points by Naia Pulliam (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth). Zara Zerman (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon) tallied 11 points and four rebounds. Casey Remolde (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Basil Academy), who finished with eight points and six rebounds, set the new program record for career free-throws made with her 327th, as she went 4-for-8 from the charity stripe. Abbey Hearn (Lewes, Del./Cape Henlopen) totaled seven points and six rebounds and Olivia Smelas (Jim Thorpe, Pa./Jim Thorpe) had six points and five rebounds. Both Leila Hurley (Jim Thorpe, Pa./Jim Thorpe) and Taylor Gurysh (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) finished with three points, connected from long distance once.
 
Smelas and Hearn combined to help KU score the game's first five points and take an opening 5-0 lead 2:21 in. The Maroon and Gold advantage spiked to as many as seven points, twice, with the latter being 12-5 on a layup by Smelas. The Lakers, however, ended the final 5:35 of the frame on an 11-3 run to take a 16-15 advantage after the first.
 
Mercyhurst connected on two free-throws just 0:12 into the second quarter to go up by three, before Pulliam gave her team the lead right back with four straight points to go up 19-18. Pulliam and Zerman combined to go 4-for-4 from the charity stripe in the final 1:47 of the second quarter as KU went into the locker room at halftime ahead 31-29.
 
In the second half, however, the third quarter specifically, the baskets did not come for the Golden Bears. They shot 29.4% (5-for-17) in the third quarter and 23% (3-for-13) in the fourth quarter and were outscored by the Lakers (5-2, 2-0) 33-23 in that second half.
 
Kutztown will take a break from PSAC competition and go out of conference for its next game, also at home, as it welcomes Holy Family to Keystone Arena for a 5:30 p.m., game on Wednesday, Dec. 6.

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