KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Kutztown women's basketball came out of the halftime locker room cold and the slow third quarter proved to be too much to overcome as Lock Haven rallied from a halftime deficit to complete the comeback victory, 60-46, Saturday afternoon in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division inside Keystone Arena.
 
It was the first defeat in East play for the Golden Bears (7-6 overall, 3-3 PSAC) in the opener.
 
Sophomore Madison Siggins (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) had a breakout game for the Maroon and Gold, finishing with a career-high 19 points and seven rebounds in a season-best 37 minutes of action.
 
In somewhat of a slow, sloppy first half, the two teams combined for 22 turnovers, 13 coming from KU. But what the Golden Bears did well was on the defensive end. While they shot 43.5% (10-for-23) from the floor, they held the Bald Eagles to just a 26.9% (7-of-26) clip, including just 25% (4-of-16) from beyond the arc.
 
LHU scored the game's first four points, but KU recorded the next five to take its first lead, coming off an old-fashioned three-point play from Leila Hurley (Jim Thorpe, Pa./Jim Thorpe) and a Siggins layup. Siggins continued to help keep her team ahead and the Golden Bears took a 16-12 lead after the opening quarter after an Arianna Smuda layup.
 
The first half was sparked by Siggins, who, in 19 of the possible 20 minutes of action, scored 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting and was 2-for-2 from long distance.
 
The third quarter is where the game took a turn in favor of the Bald Eagles as they came out of the intermission scoring the first nine points to go on top 33-27. The Maroon and Gold did not record their first points until the 4:43 mark on two free-throws from Jadyn Brenneman (New Fairfield, Conn./Western Reserve Academy). Lock Haven continued its surge, however, as it finished the quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 40-29 lead into the fourth. Kutztown did not complete its first field goal of the second half until 0:37 in to the fourth quarter with a Bella Quinn (Ashland, Ky./Russell) jump shot.
 
KU pulled to within as close as five at 40-35 after a Siggins jumper with 8:47 to play. But that was as close as KU would get the rest of the way.
 
Hurley tallied six points, Danae Ellzy (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) recorded seven points and Brenneman had five. Smuda netted four points, Quinn contributed three points and Kitty Randa (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) rounded out the scoring with two.
 
Kutztown hits the road for the first time in East play and will take on West Chester on Tuesday, Jan. 13, at 5:30 p.m. KU will be on the road for another game next week, two nights later at Shippensburg at 6 p.m., Thursday.

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