LHU Women’s Basketball bows out in PSAC Quarterfinals at Kutztown
KUTZTOWN, PA. – The No. 5 seed Lock Haven University women’s basketball team (14-14, 10-12 PSAC) gave No. 1 seed Kutztown University (26-5, 18-3 PSAC) all they could handle, but fell short in the final quarter and dropped its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Quarterfinal battle 62-49.
For the Bald Eagles it marked the second quarterfinal appearance in three years and the third straight trip to the PSAC Tournament.
In the early goings, Lock Haven’s defense once again looked to control the pace of the game, and a Carly Fitzmorris (Hamburg, N.J./Pope John XXIII) corner-three helped LHU edge ahead 6-2 early in the opening quarter. Offensively, Ahnera Parker (Lancaster, Pa./J.P. McCaskey) notched six points in the first and the Bald Eagles jumped out to a 15-8 lead at the end of the quarter.
Early in the second quarter, the Golden Bear offense got things rolling, and took the lead at 26-25 late in the half. Nadia Romanchock (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) wasted no time responding on the next possession for LHU and drained a three-pointer to push the Bald Eagles back in front 28-26. Kutztown beat the buzzer in the final seconds and edged ahead 29-28 going into the break.
LHU took back the lead right away in the third and edged ahead 32-29 as the Bald Eagles took advantage of Kutztown in the paint. In a back and forth quarter, Kutztown regained the lead at 37-36 before Romanchock answered again to hand the lead back to LHU at 39-37. The Golden Bears grabbed a basket in the waning seconds to send the teams to the decisive fourth quarter all tied up at 39-39.
In the final quarter, the momentum swung towards Kutztown, who jumped ahead 46-39 at the eight-minute mark. The Golden Bears continued to push the pace and took their largest lead of the game to that point at 50-41. Kutztown held off The Haven over the remaining minutes and pulled away for the 62-49 victory.
Parker paced two Bald Eagles in double figures with 16 points. The senior grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds for her twelfth double-double of the season.
Jaynelle Robinson (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport (Monroe CC)) also notched a double-double for LHU on 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Bald Eagles held a commanding 24-12 lead in points in the paint, and also a 44-38 rebounding advantage, but were unable to overcome the strong fourth quarter by the Golden Bears.
For Kutztown, Casey Rembolde notched the second-highest scoring total in the conference this season with 38 points. Her scoring accounted for 61 percent of the Golden Bear total points.
