LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Kutztown women's basketball was trailing by as many as 20 points in the third quarter, but fought back to tie the score late in the fourth quarter. Lock Haven got a foul call with just 0:04 to go and converted one-of-two ensuing free-throws to hang on to win the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division game Saturday, 58-57, at Thomas Fieldhouse.
A slow start wound up hurting the Golden Bears (11-13 overall, 9-9 PSAC), who fell behind 14-6 after the opening quarter and 29-11 at halftime. The Bald Eagles (10-14, 8-11) then scored the opening basket of the second half to go on top 31-11 with 9:26 left in the third quarter for their biggest lead of the game.
It was a 16-point deficit (44-28) after three and then the KU defense began to pressure full court and create Lock Haven turnovers, which led to baskets on the other end. The Maroon and Gold caused 11 Bald Eagle turnovers in the fourth quarter and outscored them 29-14 to get themselves back in the game.
Kutztown trailed 56-47 with just 1:01 remaining, but scored 10 of the next 11 points in a 0:53 span.
Zara Zerman (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon) connected on a three-pointer and
Naia Pulliam (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) completed the old-fashioned three-point play on back-to-back possessions for the Golden Bears to pull to within three at 56-53 with 0:35 left. A Bald Eagles turnover led to a layup on the other end by
Casey Remolde (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) to cut the deficit to one with 0:31 to go. After Lock Haven went 1-for-2 from the free-throw line,
Annie Whalen (Ivyland, Pa./Archbishop Wood) collected an offensive rebound and put home the game-tying basket with 0:08 remaining.
The Bald Eagles got the ball down court and were fouled, hitting one-of-two. A game-winning chance on the other end would not fall and KU had its comeback fall just short.
Pulliam finished with a team-high 13 points and grabbed five rebounds to pace 10 different players in the score column.
Olivia Smelas (Jim Thorpe, Pa./Jim Thorpe) recorded nine points. Zerman and Whalen each had seven points and Remolde tallied five.
With four games left to play in the regular season, KU sits in fourth place, one-and-a-half games behind Millersville (16-9, 11-8) in third place and one-half game ahead of East Stroudsburg (13-12, 9-10) for fourth place. The top two teams in the East receive byes and the three and four seeds earn home games in the First Round of the PSAC Tournament.
Kutztown will remain on the road and will take on East Stroudsburg next Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 5:30 p.m. KU will look for some revenge after the Warriors beat the Golden Bears at Keystone Arena back on Jan. 23.
