KUTZTOWN, Pa.- The West Chester University women's basketball team (10-11, 6-9) returned to action on Wednesday night at Kutztown (13-8, 9-5), looking to get back in the win column against the defending PSAC Tournament Champion Golden Bears. West Chester found itself behind early and, despite a valiant comeback effort, was unable to come all the way back in a 64-52 loss at Kutztown on Wednesday.
After a slow start offensively for both teams, Kutztown took a 10-point (19-9) lead with 58 seconds to play in the first quarter before West Chester closed the frame on a 4-2 run, including a three by
Macie McCracken (North Wildwood, N.J./Wildwood) with 16 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 21-13 heading into the second.
In the second,
Lena Stein (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) opened the scoring with a jumper, and
Alivia Mauz (Williamstown, N.J/
Williamstown) hit a three with 7:41 to play in the half, which cut the Kutztown lead to 23-18. Madison Siggins hit back-to-back layups in 10 seconds to stretch the lead to 27-18 with 5:19 remaining before
Alainna Hopta (York, Pa./West York) halted the run with a three and sparked a 7-0 Golden Ram run, which saw the Golden Rams cut the lead to 27-25 with 2:58 to play in the first half. Kutztown scored the final points of the half at the free throw line to take a 30-25 lead into the half.
Led by seven quick points from McCracken on 3-of-4 shooting from the field, West Chester shot 35.7 % (10-of-28) from the field in the first half, including a 3-for-8 effort from beyond the arc. Kutztown shot 42.3 % (11-for-26) from the field, including a 3-for-9 effort from beyond the arc, but managed to go 5-for-7 at the line compared to just 2-for-6 from West Chester to lead by five at the midway point.
Sofia Coleman (Dresher, Pa./Gwynedd Mercy Academy), who began her career at Kutztown, scored four of the first five points of the second half for West Chester and, in doing so, cut the deficit to 31-30 with just under eight minutes to play in the third quarter. Bella Quinn got the lead back to three with a pull-up jumper for her first points of the night before Danae Ellzy hit a driving layup to give the hosts a 35-30 lead with 6:30 to play in the third. The Golden Bear run continued with an Ariana Smuda layup that gave the hosts a 37-30 lead with under six minutes to play, before eventually taking a 39-30 lead with four minutes to play. West Chester closed the third quarter on a 9-4 run, led by four points from
Erin Daley (Lafayette Hill, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh), as Kutztown carried a 43-39 lead into the fourth.
Kutztown opened up a seven-point (47-40) lead with 8:56 remaining in the game and led by as many as 14 with one minute remaining after Ellzy converted a three-point play en route to a 64-52 victory over the Golden Rams.
Mauz led West Chester in scoring with 10 points as she finished in double figures for the second game in a row, while Daley and McCracken scored nine and eight points, respectively. Daley also tied for the team lead in rebounds with six.
West Chester shot just 32.1 % (17-of-53) from the field, including a 4-for-14 (28.6 %) effort from beyond the arc, while also going 14-for-22 (63.6 %) at the line.
Kutztown shot 50.0 % or better in the first and fourth quarters, finishing the game shooting 42.9 % (24-of-56) from the field, including a 37.5 % (6-of-16) effort from three-point range, while also going 10-for-15 (66.7 %) at the line. Ellzy led Kutztown in scoring with 14 points, while Siggins and Jadyn Brenneman added 11 points each. Smelas led the team in rebounds and assists, finishing with 13 rebounds, six assists, and three steals in the victory.
Kutztown ended the game with a 40-35 rebounding advantage, which led to an 11-7 edge in second-chance points and a 34-16 lead in points in the paint.
West Chester won the turnover battle 16-11 and finished the game with a 14-10 lead in points off turnovers and a 13-10 lead in fast break points.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action on Saturday at Shippensburg beginning at 1 p.m.
