SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. –
Abbey Hearn (Lewes, Del./Cape Henlopen) had herself quite an exciting Saturday. The graduate student paced the Kutztown offense in scoring and helped lead a fourth quarter comeback effort to push KU past Shepherd 58-52 Saturday afternoon in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Divisional game at the Butcher Athletic Center. She also reached the 1,000 career point milestone in the victory.
The Golden Bears (11-10 overall, 6-6 PSAC), who jumped over the .500 mark overall after starting the season 6-10, outscored the Rams (4-15, 1-11) 15-5 in that final quarter to erase a six-point deficit. The Maroon and Gold have now won five games in-a-row, four of which were PSAC games.
Hearn becomes the 22nd player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career points, joining teammate
Naia Pulliam (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth), who also reached that milestone earlier this season. She is also the third player to the 1k club in the last two seasons, with
Casey Remolde (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) accomplishing the feat last season.
Eight of Hearn's team-high 18 points came in the second half as Kutztown erased a 32-26 halftime deficit. KU was behind 49-43 just 0:59 into the fourth quarter before
Olivia Smelas (Jim Thorpe, Pa./Jim Thorpe) and Bella Quin combined for seven straight points to give their team their first lead of the game. Shepherd opened the game with eight unanswered points and never trailed until 4:19 into the final frame.
After a
Naia Pulliam (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) 3-pointer and a layup by Hearn, KU found itself with a 55-49 advantage with 2:11 to play and never relinquished it.
Bella Arcuri (Fallsington, Pa./Pennsbury) went 3-for-4 at the free-throw line to ice it.
Hearn finished with one rebound shy of a double-double. Pulliam tallied 17 points and six rebounds. Smelas recorded 16 points and 10 rebounds for her second double-double in the last three games.
Kutztown returns home for a midweek game is it hosts East Stroudsburg on Wednesday, Jan. 29, at 5:30 p.m., from Keystone Arena.
