KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Kutztown women's basketball seemingly led from start to finish in taking care of Shepherd 77-49 Saturday afternoon in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division game inside Keystone Arena.
 
The victory is the 12th in-a-row, adding on to the program record for consecutive wins in a season. With the triumph, KU has secured a top-two seeding from the East in the PSAC Tournament and a first round bye, hosting a quarterfinal round game on Wednesday, March 5.
 
Unlike the past four games and six of the last seven overall that were decided by two possessions or less, the Golden Bears (18-10 overall, 13-6 PSAC) made sure this one was decided early on so they wouldn't have to sweat it out. They scored the game's opening basket on a Naia Pulliam (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) layup 0:29 in, and after the Rams (6-20, 3-16) tied it on their ensuing possession, KU scored the next eight points and led 20-13 after the first quarter and 38-23 at halftime. The advantage grew to double figures within the first 0:12 of the second quarter on two Leila Hurley (Jim Thorpe, Pa./Jim Thorpe) free-throws and the Maroon and Gold never looked back.
 
Pulliam finished with a game-high 17 points and added four rebounds, two assists and one steal to lead 12 different Golden Bears in the score column. Olivia Smelas (Jim Thorpe, Pa./Jim Thorpe) ended one point shy of a double-double, scoring nine points and grabbing 14 rebounds. The junior forward flirted with a triple-double, contributing seven assists. Abbey Hearn (Lewes, Del./Cape Henlopen), who was recognized pre-game for joining the 1,000 career point club in program history, recorded nine points and three rebounds and Shannon Remolde (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) tallied eight points and two boards.
 
Kutztown continued to pour it on in the third quarter, outscoring Shepherd 22-14 to lead 60-37 after three. Head coach Janet Malouf was able to empty the bench and play the entire healthy roster in the fourth.
 
The Maroon and Gold defense was stout all game, holding the Rams to just 26.9% (18-for-67) shooting from the floor.
 
Bella Quinn (Ashland, Ky./Russell) and Kitty Randa (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) both had seven points with the former adding three assists and the latter four rebounds. Alexa Windish (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Wood) finished with five points and Jess Aponik (Philadelphia, Pa./Germantown Academy) added four. Hurley, Taylor Gurysh (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) and Anaya Price (Newark, Del./Caravel Academy) all contributed three points and Anna Stein (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) rounded out the scoring with two points.
 
Kutztown hits the road for one final away regular season game next Wednesday, Feb. 26, when it takes on East Stroudsburg at 5:30 p.m., from Koehler Fieldhouse.

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