KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Kutztown women's basketball closed out the calendar year of 2025 with some positive momentum to take in to 2026 as it rallied from down 19 points in the second quarter to earn its second straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference victory in as many teams, downing Pitt-Johnstown 71-63 Sunday afternoon in a crossover game inside Keystone Arena.
 
The Golden Bears are now one game over .500 both overall and in the conference at 5-4 and 2-1.
 
Leila Hurley (Jim Thorpe, Pa./Jim Thorpe) led all scorers with 19 points, while Danae Ellzy (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) finished with a season-best 18 points. Bella Quinn (Ashland, Ky./Russell) and Olivia Smelas (Jim Thorpe, Pa./Jim Thorpe) both were just short of double figures with nine and eight points, respectively, with Smelas also adding nine rebounds.
 
It was a tale of two quarters in the first half as the Mountain Cats outscored the Maroon and Gold 21-7 in the first quarter and went up by as many as 19 points (30-11) with 6:10 left in the second quarter. But from that point on, Kutztown made its run to climb back into the contest, ending the frame on an 18-4 run to go into the locker room at halftime trailing by just five, 34-29.
 
Kutztown took its first lead of the game on a Smelas 3-pointer 1:12 into the third quarter at 36-35. It would be back-and-forth between the teams for the next seven minutes. With the score tied 48-48 with 1:50 remaining in the third, the Golden Bears finished the quarter on an 11-1 run to take a double digit lead into the fourth at 59-49. UPJ never got closer than eight points the rest of the way as KU outscored them 52-28 in the middle two quarters.
 
Ariana Smuda (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East) recorded six points and four rebounds and both Madison Siggins (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) and Taylor Gurysh (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) ended with five points.
 
Kutztown will break for the holidays and will next be out on the court for another back-to-back crossover doubleheader, this time out west. First, KU will take on Seton Hill on Friday, Jan. 2, at 3 p.m., and then will play California (Pa.) on Saturday, Jan. 3, at 1 p.m.

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