Last season the Shippensburg University women’s basketball team earned a first round bye in the PSAC Championship. The Raiders fell to Millersville University in the first round.

This season SU finished the regular season third in the PSAC east and did not receive a bye, forcing them to play Kutztown University. SU did not want déjà vu to occur but the Golden Bears were not leaving without a victory.

The Raiders fell to KU 83–74 on Saturday afternoon, falling in the first game they have played in the playoffs for the third-straight year.

SU started the game strong despite the absence of sophomore powerhouse Stephanie Knauer who was inactive with an upper body injury.

The Raiders jumped out to an early 8–2 lead before the first media timeout.

The Raiders and the Golden Bears battled back-and-forth, trading baskets for the next nine minutes before the Golden Bears tied the game at 23.

Logan Snyder and Morgan Griffith each knocked down a free throw to put the Raiders up 25–23.

KU’s Jess Harvey knocked down a 3-pointer to put KU up 26–25 just moments later.

From that point on the Golden Bears never lost the lead. KU used an impressive 21–7 run to open up their lead to 44–32, including a buzzer beater layup at halftime.

SU shot a struggling 1-for-6 from behind the arch in the first half, mainly due to sharp shooter Sarah Strybuc only playing 12 minutes in the first half. Strybuc got into foul trouble early and did not see much of the floor.

The Raiders were not going to go down easy. SU came out of half strong and closed the led to 50–44 after Griffith made two consecutive layups.

The Golden Bears quickly regained focus and regain the games momentum to slow down the Raiders.

SU managed to make a late second half push but it was just too late. SU embarked on a 10–2 run which included Strybuc knocking down a 3-pointer, one of her five in the game.

After KU forced SU to make foolish mistakes, the Raiders needed to foul in order to stop the clock, resulting in the Raiders’ dominant point scorers to get into foul trouble.

KU used those fouls to rack up points late in the game and solidify its victory. The Golden Bears shot an impressive 87.5 percent from the free-throw line, knocking down 21 of their 24 attempts.

The Raiders did not receive much help from their bench, which only recorded three points while the Golden Bears reserve players finished with an astounding 40 bench points.

The Raiders finished the afternoon with three players scoring in double digits including Griffith notching her 11th and final double-double of her freshman campaign. The forward finished the game with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Strybuc finished her career as a Raider with a bang by notching 20 points on 5-for-11 from behind the arc.

Lauren Gold tallied 21 points for the Raiders to go along with her five assists.

The Raiders will regroup this offseason and will return to the court next fall in hopes of earning another trip to the PSAC playoffs.

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