EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – Kutztown women's basketball erased a halftime deficit with a strong second half to finish off the season sweep of East Stroudsburg, winning the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division game 60-53 Wednesday night on the road inside Koehler Fieldhouse.
 
The victory is the fifth in-a-row for the Golden Bears (18-9 overall, 14-6 PSAC), a season-high win streak, with one more regular season game to go.
 
KU found itself trailing 32-30 at the intermission, but began the third quarter on an 8-0 run behind back-to-back 3-pointers by Alexa Windish (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Wood) and Leila Hurley (Jim Thorpe, Pa./Jim Thorpe), along with a layup by Olivia Smelas (Jim Thorpe, Pa./Jim Thorpe), and the Maroon and Gold outscored the Warriors (16-11, 11-10) 30-21 in the second half.
 
Hurley led the Golden Bear offense with 11 points and was very important from beyond the arc with a couple big 3-pointers, going 3-for-7 from distance, while coming away with a team-best three steals. Both Madison Siggins (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) and Danae Ellzy (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) finished with 10 points, the latter adding four rebounds and two assists. Smelas recorded nine points, 13 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks. Bella Quinn (Ashland, Ky./Russell) tallied seven points, four assists and three boards and Ariana Smuda (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East) had six points and three rebounds.
 
Kutztown shot just over 33% (11-for-33) in the first half, while ESU shot 46% (13-of-28). But the Maroon and Gold found their rhythm offensively in the second half, going 7-for-11 (64%) in the third quarter and 5-of-10 (50%) in the fourth quarter.
 
After the Smelas basket to put her team ahead 38-32 2:29 into the third quarter, East Stroudsburg went on a 10-2 run in the next 3:01 to take a 42-40 lead. But a Quinn layup, Hurley 3-pointer and Smuda bucket in the next 2:57 put the Golden Bears back in front 47-42, a lead that they would keep the rest of the way. KU scored eight consecutive points to begin the fourth quarter to go up by as many as eight points, which happened three different times in the frame and they never led by less than six the entire quarter.
 
Windish contributed three points and both Jadyn Brenneman (New Fairfield, Conn./Western Reserve Academy) and Kitty Randa (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) added two points.
 
Kutztown concludes the regular season at Mansfield this Saturday, Feb. 28, for a 1 p.m., game. KU will then host a PSAC quarterfinal round game next Wednesday, March 4, against a team from the West Division TBD.

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