MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - A strong first half wasn't enough for the Millersville women's basketball team Wednesday night, as visiting Kutztown used a strong effort from beyond the arc to defeat the Marauders, 86-79.
The Marauders fell to 5-8 and 2-6 in PSAC play, while Kutztown improved to 8-6 and 5-3 in conference action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• An efficient Millersville offense impressed from the beginning. Trailing 10-6 with 6:22 remaining in the first quarter, the Marauders closed on a 19-5 run to take a commanding lead.
• Millersville's first quarter scoring mirrored the rest of the game.
Lauren Lister and
Courtney Dimoff combined for 14 of the team's 19 points, while
Chandera Jones-Aryeh (two points) and
Olivia Mottern (three points) added to the total. Mottern's 3-pointer at the buzzer gave Millersville a 25-15 lead. It was the junior's lone 3-pointer on the night.
• The second quarter was an even effort from both teams, with Millersville extending its lead to 11 points three times.
• The Golden Bears made their move late in the third quarter. Kutztown scored 11 points in the final 3:42 of the quarter, including an Annie Whalen 3-pointer with 34 seconds remaining to cut Millersville's lead to one, 60-59. Whalen scored nine points in the third quarter, all from 3-pointers.
• Guard Casey Remolde picked up where Whalen left off, opening the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer for Kutztown's first lead since the four minute mark in the first quarter. On the following possession, Whalen connected again from behind the arc for a five point lead.
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Lauren Lister led Millersville's comeback attempt, knocking down a jump shot with 2:39 remaining in the game to cut the deficit to three points. The Marauders would not come any closer the remainder of the game.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
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Lauren Lister paced all players with a season-high 33 points. The junior shot an impressive 10-of-15 from the field, including 2-of-3 from deep and 11-of-13 from the charity stripe.
• Lister eclipsed the 30-point plateau for the second time this season, previously reaching the mark on Dec. 7, vs. Edinboro. The effort marks the fifth time in Lister's career she reached 30 points. She holds a career-high 38 points from Feb. 13, 2019 at Shippensburg.
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Courtney Dimoff dropped a season-high 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including a 3-of-7 effort from 3-point range. The junior's 19 points were two off from tying her career-high (21).
• The rebounding margin favored Millersville overall (32 to 31) but seven of Kutztown's 11 offensive rebounds came in the second half.
• The Golden Bears had five players finish in double-digit scoring figures, while Millersville only had two.
• Kutztown benefited from 40 bench points. Millersville's bench combined for 14 points.
HEAD COACH MARY FLEIG QUOTESS
• On the Lauren Lister's performance: "I thought she had a great mental attack for this game. I thought her mind set was really good with what she wanted to do. She worked really hard from last game to today getting shots up in the gym. It paid off for her."
• On the lack of balanced scoring: "I think you can see that the last couple games we're only getting one or two scorers in double digits. We don't have the balance that other teams have. It makes it tough to get in rhythm."
• On the change from the first half to the second half: "I thought we did a really good job defending them in the first half and I thought we were doing a good job running our offense, getting to the rim and getting good shots. In the second half, the tide turned. We let [Whalen] get hot from 3-point range and played too far off of her, which allowed her to get good shots. They also did a good job attacking us in the low post, which was a tough matchup for us. Kutztown did a better job executing."
• On Kutztown's offensive rebounding advantage: "There were a couple things. We were not getting good block outs on them at all in the second half. I thought our lineup was what we needed to have in at the time. Yes, they were bigger than us but that's what we're up against a lot of the time."
NOTES
• The Marauders have dropped three consecutive games for the first time all season.
• Despite the loss, Millersville still holds an all-time record of 60-25 against Kutztown.
• Millersville dropped to 4-3 at home with the loss.
UP NEXT
• Millersville returns to action Saturday, Jan. 11 at Bloomsburg. the game is scheduled to tip off at 3 p.m.
