SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV. (November 11, 2011)—Junior Ashley Wood (Limerick, PA/Spring-Ford) scored a career-high 33 points in the Kutztown University women's basketball season-opener despite falling to Shepherd University, 83-65 at Butcher Center. (BOXSCORE)

The Golden Bears (0-1 overall) are competing in the WVIAC-CIAA-PSAC Challenge hosted by Shepherd University (1-0 overall) which features schools from the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.

KU and Shepherd battled hard in the first half, where Shepherd took a 37-36 lead into halftime. Wood was more than phenomenal and was 13-for-19 from the field, scoring 20 points in the first half. She opened the game with a 3-pointer and knocked down three 3-pointers in the first half. Wood was all over the floor for the Golden Bears, attacking the basket near and far.

The first half featured nine ties and Kutztown only led by two points but continued to stay on course with Shepherd.

Avery Hodgson (Surf City, NJ/Southern Regional) used a pair of free throws to tie the game 29-29 with two minutes, 40 seconds left in the half. After a layup from Rachel Johnson gave the Rams the 37-34 lead, freshman Alyssa Bonenberger (Walnutport, PA/Northampton Area) used a jumper with eight seconds left to slice Shepherd's lead to one before intermission.

The Rams took control of the second half but the Golden Bears held on for the early minutes. Freshman Keyia Pullen cut Shepherd's 57-50 lead with a pair of free throws, pulling KU within five with 8:11 remaining. Kutztown turned the ball over eight times in the second half, giving Shepherd the advantage to fuel its offense for the remaining minutes of the second half.

Andrea Sisson (Richmond, VA/Godwin) and Hodgson finished with eight points. Bonenberger recorded six points. Steph Zewe (Lewistown, PA/Indian Valley) led Kutztown with six rebounds, followed by Brittany LeVan (Centre Hall, PA/Penns Valley) with five. KU finished with 35 rebounds.

Kutztown had the opportunity to display some of its new talent, with most of the team getting a chance to see some action on the court.

Shepherd had a balanced scoring effort with three Rams finishing with double-figures. Emily Daniel recorded a double-double with a team-high 24 points and 10 rebounds. Daniel was four-for-six from the 3-point range.

Fayak also recorded a double-double for the Rams. She finished with 16 points and added 10 rebounds. Rachel Johnson also added 15 points for Shepherd.

Kutztown returns back to action on Saturday, Nov. 12 when it faces Virginia State University at 4 p.m. in the WVIAC-CIAA-PSAC Challenge.