By Zach Payne
Staff Writer

The Kutztown University women’s basketball team fell to West Chester University by the score of 81-65 on Sat. Feb. 8, at Hollinger Fieldhouse in West Chester. The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division matchup was a close game for most of the first half, but the Golden Bears were ultimately unable to regain momentum after a late first half run by the Golden Rams.

Heading into the second half, West Chester (16-6, 11-1 PSAC East) extended its 8-0 run to an 11-0 run with a three-pointer. From that point on, Kutztown (7-14, 4-7 PSAC East) played from behind, and they were never able to pull the game to within one possession.

The Golden Bears narrowed the deficit to four points a few times in the second half, but they couldn’t get over the hump. An 8-0 run by West Chester with under six minutes to play in the game essentially sealed the deal.

Kutztown standout Advia Campbell put together another impressive performance in the loss. she had the program’s first triple-double in KU’s first meeting with West Chester earlier this season.

Campbell finished the day with nine rebounds, five blocks, four steals and a team-high 15 points. She also shot 77 percent from the field, going 7-for-9.

Freshman Jess Harvey was the Golden Bears’ only other double-digit scorer. She put up 12 points with five rebounds. Despite the loss, all eight Golden Bears scored.

Alyssa Bonenberger and Kelsey Watson, Kelly’s Sports Basketball Athlete of the Week, each scored eight points. Bonenberger also had six rebounds and five assists. Nicole Donahue and Natalya Lee both scored seven points.

West Chester earned the win on Saturday by controlling the rebound game. They outrebounded the Golden Bears 54-39. West Chester’s Dallas Ely led the team with 11 boards. WCU also had four players reach double-digit scoring, including Jasmen Clark, who scored a game-high 17 points including five three pointers.

Brittany Siciniski scored 14, Anna Kuntz had 13 and Serifat Junaid scored 12.

Kutztown remained on the road in its next game on Wed., Feb. 12 against Cheyney and started a comeback with 86-72.