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LEMONT FURNACE, PA—Catherine Noack (Bethlehem/Liberty)'s layup with 4.2 seconds lifted the 22nd-ranked Bloomsburg University women's basketball team to a 63-61 win over California (PA) Wednesday in PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) action. The game was played at Penn State-Fayette due to a power outage on the California campus.
 
Noack's game-winning bucket came after the Vulcans had rallied from 13 down with just under 12 minutes to play to tie the game at 61-all. Cal's Stephanie Michael scored with 10 seconds to go for the game's first tie since it was 11-11 with 13:50 to play in the opening half. Noack then took the ball down the floor and drove in for the layup to put Bloomsburg back on top, while getting fouled on the play. The junior, though, missed the free throw, but rebounded her own shot and ran out the clock and snapping the Huskies two-game losing streak.
 
The Vulcans trailed 49-36 with 11:50 to play after Jocelyn Ford (Lansing, NY/Lansing) hit one of two free throws for Bloomsburg. But Cal came back to close to within two points using a 14-6 over the next five-and-a-half minutes to make it a 55-53 game in favor of the Huskies.
 
Bloomsburg made it 57-53 on a layup by Kayla Oxenrider (Ashland/Tri-Valley), while later a pair of free throws from Dana Wieller (Bethlehem/Liberty) kept it a four-point lead at 59-55 with 4:51 to play. Two free throws from Cal's Michael made it a two-point game again with under four minutes to play before a layup from Lauren Ellis (Bangor/Bangor) pushed the Huskies lead to 61-57 setting up the late game heroics for Noack.
 
Cal scored first in the game on a couple of free throws before the Huskies went on a 11-2 run to go on top 11-4 nearly five minutes into the game. Ellis scored four points and Wieller drained a three-pointer for the Huskies.
 
The Vulcans countered with an 11-0 run to go in front 15-11 with 11:46 to go in the first half. Bloomsburg, however, came back with a 14-0 run of its own to take a 25-15 lead with 9:06 to play in the half. Oxenrider hit a three-points and a couple of free throws, while Danielle Derr (Dresner/Upper Dublin) scored four points in the rally.
 
But in the back-and-forth battle, California came back and trimmed the deficit to just two points at the half with Michael hitting a three-pointer with just six seconds left in the half.
 
In the second half the Huskies pushed the lead to 39-32 on a couple of free throws from Wieller and then made it 49-36 with Noack nailing a three pointer in the run for Bloomsburg.
 
The Huskies, 6-2, 3-2 in the PSAC, were led by Oxenrider with 18 points, while Ellis added 17 points and nine rebounds with Wieller adding 12 points. Noack finished with five points for Bloomsburg, which played without starting point guard Alyssa Flanagan (Freeland/Hazleton Area).
 
California, 6-2, 3-2 in the PSAC, got 16 points from Chelsea McKnight, while Michael and Kate Seebohm each added 11.
 
Bloomsburg will be idle till Sunday, Dec.  30 when it plays at Philadelphia University at 1 p.m.