Box Score

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Senior forward Lauren Beckley racked up 38 points and junior forward Kasey Gardner added 29 on Saturday afternoon from Heiges Field House as the Shippensburg University women's basketball team moved into sole possession of third place in the PSAC Eastern Division with a convincing 87-75 victory over second-place Kutztown.

Shippensburg (14-14, 7-5 PSAC East), which totaled a season-high in points, dazzled in virtually every aspect of its game on Saturday and came through down the stretch with an impressive 55 points in the second half. The Lady Raiders had assists on 22 of their buckets, shot 86 percent from the free-throw line and recorded a 43-36 advantage in rebounds.

After Saturday's action featured Millersville defeating Bloomsburg and Mansfield upsetting West Chester, the Lady Raiders are now just one game behind Kutztown and one game ahead of West Chester, Cheyney and Bloomsburg. SU will play both the Golden Rams and the Lady Wolves to conclude its regular season and has already swept the season series over the Huskies.

The first half was a nip-and-tuck affair that featured three ties and four lead changes. The Golden Bears entered the locker room at halftime with a 34-32 lead, but Shippensburg began to show its mettle with a strong performance to start the second half. Beckley hit a three-pointer with 14:44 to play, capping off a 16-4 run that put the Lady Raiders ahead by eight points.

Whenever it seemed that Kutztown was attempting a comeback, Beckley and Gardner supplied the necessary offense. SU built an advantage of as many as 14 points with 5:17 to play and withstood a 9-0 Golden Bear run by sinking 7-of-8 free throws in the final minute to clinch the all-important victory.

Beckley was once again displaying her All-American talents in front of the partisan crowd, shooting 12-of-21 from the field (including 5-of-8 from three-point range) and making all nine of her free-throw attempts. Her success at the charity stripe resulted in another school record, as Beckley surpassed Ashley Totedo on the school's all-time free throw list.

Shippensburg's second All-American effort of the day came from Gardner, who tallied 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in 38 minutes of action. She was 10-of-21 from the floor, shot 7-of-10 at the free-throw line and committed just two turnovers.

Redshirt freshman Caitlin Bamberger solidified the post for Shippensburg with 30 solid minutes of production. In just her second game back from injury, Bamberger made three of her five shots for six points while grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out two assists. Her defense also held Kutztown center Chauntelle Schroeder to just eight points and eight rebounds in 25 minutes.

Senior guard Sheila Wasser was productive from the guard spot with five points and a career-high five assists. Freshman guard Kerry Conroy contributed five points, seven rebounds and two assists.

Kutztown (17-8, 8-4 PSAC East), which committed just nine turnovers in the contest, got 22 points from Melissa McQuade and 11 points each from Rachel Wisemiller and Ashley Wood.

Shippensburg will compete in its final regular season home at 6 p.m. on Wednesday against West Chester while celebrating National Girls and Women In Sports Day. The Lady Raiders will also honor their senior class before the game, a group that features Beckley, Sheila Wasser, forward Shelley Wasser and injured guard Ally Briggs.

Notes: Beckley has now made 514 career free throws…Totedo finished her career with 508…Beckley now has 2,354 points…SU is 9-1 this season when scoring 70 or more points…SU tallied 20 or more assists and had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio for the third time in its last five games, all victories.