BOX SCORE

VIDEO OF KAYLA OXENRIDER

BLOOMSBURG—Kayla Oxenrider (Ashland/Tri-Valley) scored a career-high 29 points to lead Bloomsburg University to an 80-66 win over Kutztown in a PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) women's basketball quarterfinal playoff game. The win sends the Huskies to PSAC Final Four which will be hosted at the Nelson Field House on Friday and Saturday, March 4-5.

The win also snapped a six-game PSAC playoff losing streak for the Huskies dating back to the 2000-01 season.

Bloomsburg never trailed in the game jumping out to an 8-2 lead through the first five minutes of play. The Huskies, who shot 55 percent from the floor in the first half, built their advantage to 25-15 with 5:44 to go in the half on a layup from Lauren Ellis (Bangor/Bangor). Later the Huskies took their biggest lead of the half, 37-23, when Oxenrider drained one of her five three-pointers for the game, with 1:57 to play.

In the second half Bloomsburg took its biggest lead of the game at 43-25 when Danielle Derr (Dresner/Upper Dublin) hit a pair of free throws with 17:46 to play. Kutztown came back though and outscored the Huskies by 11points over the six minutes to get the lead down to eight, 57-49, with 11:12 left to play.

But the Huskies answered with three's from both Oxenrider and Dana Wieller (Bethlehem/Liberty), part of 10-4 run that put Bloomsburg on top 67-53, with 7:04 to play.

The Golden Bears came back one more time and used a 10-0 run to narrow the lead to four points, 67-63, with 4:11 to play, the closest they had been since midway through the opening half.

Bloomsburg though followed the Kutztown run with a strong finish. Oxenrider started the Huskies rally with a pair of free throws and scored the final two points on a pair of free throws as the Bloomsburg hit 11 of 12 from the foul line in the closing four minutes to seal the win.

Head coach Bill Cleary was thrilled with the effort his team gave. “It was a great team win,” said Cleary, now in his third year. “They (the players) kept their composure when the game got tight at the end. We did a great job closing the game out.”

Oxenrider's big game was not a surprise to Cleary. “Kayla is that type of player,” Cleary commented. “She is very explosive and played great when we needed her to. We need her to do that more often.”

Oxenrider finished with 29 points and seven rebounds, while Wieller added 17 points and six boards, with Gallagher getting 16 points and four rebounds. Alyssa Flanagan (Freeland/Hazleton Area) dished out seven assists and had nine rebounds.

Kutztown, which ends its season at 15-12, got 17 points from both Andrea Sisson and Melissa McQaude.

Bloomsburg, now 22-5 and winners of 12 straight games, will face California, the number three seed from the Western Division, in Friday's semi-final game at 7:30 p.m. Cal beat IUP, 61-51, to advance to the PSAC Final Four. The Vulcans downed the Huskies earlier this season, 77-72.

In the other semi-final game Millersville, the two seed from the East, will face Edinboro, the top-seed from the West, at 5:30 p.m. The Marauders beat West Chester, 70-65, on Tuesday, while Edinboro beat Mercyhurst 75-61 to move on.