Sunday News

Marauder women dominate Kutztown
By Joel Schreiner, Correspondent

Unable to pull away in the opening half, the Millersville women's basketball team used a dominant second-half performance to blow past Kutztown.

Trailing 34-32 at the break, the Marauders opened the second half with a 24-4 blast en route to a 78-56 win over the Bears in a pivotal PSAC game Saturday afternoon at Pucillo Gym.

Coupled with West Chester's 65-59 win over Bloomsburg, the Marauders (9-4 PSAC, 12-5 overall) moved into a first-place tie with Bloom. The Bears (8-5, 10-7), meanwhile, remain a game back after losing at Pucillo for the 30th time in their last 34 tries.

"I just laid it on my seniors," said Marauder coach Mary Fleig of her halftime discussion. "I told them this could be the last time you play Kutztown, so it's up to you to want to go out and get it done."

Their answer was pretty clear.

Aurielle Mosley, one of those seniors, fueled the charge by scoring 14 of her game-high 20 points in the second half.

Mashira Newman, another senior starter, finished with 18 points and the third and final senior starter, Miesha Cousins, posted 12.

That trio alone combined to out-score Kutztown, 33-22, in the second half.

Freshman Celeste Robinson also came up big, posting a career-high 16 points.

"She came out and attacked really well," said Fleig. "She's hard to defend when she has the ball in her left hand. I think she's gaining confidence game by game."

Millersville started the game on a 13-2 run and eventually led 24-15 with 8:25 left in the half. The Bears answered with an 11-0 run and held the Marauders scoreless for a span of 5:41.

Back-to-back buckets by Mosley to open the second half put Millersville back in the lead for good. The Marauders stretched the run to 12-2 and eventually doubled it to 24-4 to lead 56-38 with 10:04 left to play.

"When we got that momentum and excitement, it helped with our full-court pressure," Fleig said. "We had to keep the pressure on. We didn't want to let them back in it again."n

Down by two at the half, Millersville opened the second half with a 24-4 run to pace their 78-56 win over the Bears.