Liberty 72, Kutztown 56 (HTML Box Score)
 
KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University women's basketball team led on numerous occasions in the first half, and got one more opportunity at live competition before the Thanksgiving break, as it fell in an exhibition contest to Division l Liberty University 72-56 on Monday night at Keystone Arena.
 
The Golden Bears seemed to control the game early on, not letting the fast-paced Flames get on an early roll. Nicole Donahue (Wall, N.J./St. Rose) grabbed the lead for Kutztown, draining a jumper from the left side lifting KU to a 9-7 lead. From there on, the Golden Bears held the lead until Liberty's Simone Brown calmly put in a three-pointer to tie the game at 16-16 midway through the first half.
 
Nearing the end of the first half, Liberty began pressing on defense to put the game in its favor. Kutztown extended its lead to three when Alyssa Bonenberger (Walnutport, PA/Northampton Area) hit a jumper to give KU a 23-20 lead. Liberty went on a 6-0 run to retake the lead, as Kutztown trailed for the remainder of the first half. Liberty led 38-30 at the half.
 
Entering the second half, Jess Harvey (Barnegat, N.J./Rumson Fair-Haven Regional) came out hot. Harvey could not wait to get on the court and sink some jump shots as she opened up scoring for the Golden Bears. Her first three-pointer closed the 38-30 deficit that was created by Liberty to 38-33. Mickayla Sanders answered with a three-pointer, but the Golden Bear freshman shined like a veteran as she drove down the court and made a fast-break jumper. The two squads went back and forth with scoring until two good three-pointers by Sanders of Liberty extended the lead to 53-39.
 
Harvey helped the Golden Bears by burying another three-pointer, as the Golden Bears trailed 65-50 with nine minutes to play. Nearing the final minutes, Natalya Lee (Feasterville, Pa./Rancocas Valley Regional) scored last for Kutztown off of a layup, and a jumper by Fisher-Davis and a layup by Catherine Kearney secured the win for Division l Liberty.
 
Harvey and Lee added 12 points apiece with three rebounds for the Golden Bears as they both led in scoring. The two also led KU with two three-pointers apiece. Bonenberger and Donahue each added 10 points for Kutztown.
 
The Golden Bears shot 37.1 percent from the field, were 30.8 percent from beyond the arc, and were 66.7 percent from the free-throw line.
 
As for Liberty, it was 39.4 percent from the field, 38.1 percent from beyond the arc, and shot 80 percent from the free-throw line. The Flames leading scorer was Ashley Rininger who scored 16 of Liberty's 72 points.
 
 The Golden Bears return to action after the holiday on Wednesday, Dec. 4 when they travel to Mansfield University for a 5:30 tipoff.