Edinboro, Pa. – The Edinboro women's basketball team dropped a 78-64 decision to Kutztown Sunday afternoon in the PSAC Championship Game.
Late in the third quarter,
Natalie Angeletti hit a layup to tie the game 48-48. Each team committed a turnover and Bella Arcuri hit a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Kutztown a 51-48 lead heading to the final quarter.
Gabby McDuffie tied the game with a 3-pointer on the Scots opening possession of the final frame. Kutztown took the lead back and extended it to 56-52 with a pair of Abbey Hearn free throws.
Hayley Sims trimmed the lead to one, 56-55, with a trey at the 6:03 mark. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Naia Pulliam pushed the lead to 62-55 with 4:54 to play.
Angeletti split a pair of free throws cutting the lead to 62-56, but Kutztown went on an 8-2 run to extend the lead to 70-58 with 1:08 to play and the lead never fell below 10 the rest of the way.
The teams traded buckets early with the Scots building a 12-6 advantage halfway through the first quarter after a
Rachael Manfredo layup. Hearn cut the lead to 12-9 with a triple at the 4:59 mark sparking a 10-2 run that saw the Golden Bears take a 16-14 lead with 1:32 to play in the opening frame.
Morgan Gentile scored with 59 seconds left to send the game to the second quarter tied 16-16.
Kutztown opened the second on an 8-4 spurt capped by a Leila Hurley trey at the 5:46 mark to put the Bears up 24-20. The Scots answered with an 11-1 run of their own keyed by triples from McDuffie, Sims and Gentile to go ahead 31-25 with 3:31 left in the opening half. Kutztown cut the lead to 35-33 with an 8-4 run capped by a pair of Hearn free throws.
Ashten Boggs hit one of two free throws with .6 seconds left to send the Scots into the locker room up 36-33.
Kutztown came out in the third on an 8-1 run taking a 41-37 lead on a Hearn triple at the 6:28 mark. The lead grew to seven, 48-41, on a Hearn layup at the 3:47 mark.
Natalie Angeletti scored a pair of buckets sandwiching a Sims 3-pointer to tie the game 48-48 with 52 seconds left in the third.
Four Scots finished with double-figure scoring paced by 14 points from Sims. Gentile added 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Boggs added 11 points and seven rebounds. McDuffie finished with 10 points and seven boards.
Hearn earned tournament MVP honors netting 30 points to go with five rebounds. Pulliam added 21 points while shooting 8-of-10 from the field.
The Scots await the selection show tonight to find out their NCAA Tournament placement. The Scots were ranked second in the Atlantic Region heading into PSAC Postseason play.
