KUTZTOWN, Pa. — A 23-11 third quarter in favor of the Kutztown Golden Bears (9-10, 5-6) was the dagger as they defeated the Millersville Marauders (11-6, 6-4) 69-49 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play.  Makiah Shaw got back on track with a team-high 15 points while Brenna Ortwein had 12 points and three steals for the Marauders in the loss.
 
Millersville's offense was stymied from the start.  The visitors committed nine turnovers in the first 10 minutes, many of them self-inflicted wounds; they had 10 giveaways in the entire game in their win over Mansfield on Jan. 15. The Marauders would finish with 18 turnovers, which along with an 11-16 deficit in offensive rebounds culminated in eight more shots for the Golden Bears.
 
"I thought that Kutztown did a good job with their defensive game plan," Millersville head coach Kira Mowen said postgame. "Although we did have 18 turnovers, so it wasn't like we didn't help them out. We coughed the ball up a lot.  We weren't able to get in a rhythm and get in the feel of what we were doing. When we did what we were supposed to offensively, when we executed the game plan, we got looks."
 
Despite the first half offensive woes, the Marauders were down just 30-25 at the break. However, that deficit quickly grew to 16 as the Golden Bears went on a 13-2 run over the first 4:38 of the period to make the score 43-27. Mowen called a timeout to try and stop the run at the seven-minute mark of the third, but the margin only grew, reaching 20 before the quarter's end.
 
"I feel like we came out of half very slow," Mowen said of her team's third-quarter struggles. "It's like we felt we had already lost the game in the first half. I don't know where their heads were, it was just like the game was already over and we're defeated, and it was a five-point game. Then it turned into a 12-point or 15-point game really quick. But the vibe was like we'd already lost. That's frustrating when that happens, because it's nothing that we did necessarily wrong basketball-wise, but when you have that aura in that environment, you just can't overcome it."
 
Shaw's 15 points was tied for the most on either team. The senior forward is now poised to break the 1,000 career point mark in the Marauder's next contest, as this game's output brings her career total to 990.  
 
That milestone basket could come in front of the Marauder faithful, as Millersville returns home for the first time in over two weeks next Wednesday against East Stroudsburg. Tip-off in Pucillo Gymnasium is scheduled for Jan. 22 at 5:30 p.m.