Box Score

BOX SCORE

EDINBORO, PA—The #25 Bloomsburg University women's basketball team came up just short tonight against #21 Indiana Pa. in the first round of the NCAA Regionals, 77-76.  Kelsey Gallagher (East Stroudsburg/East Stroudsburg South) scored a game high 23 points to lead the Huskies while Kayla Oxenrider (Ashland/Tri-Valley) scored career point 1,000.  With the loss, Bloomsburg is eliminated from the NCAA Tournament. 

The first half of tonight's game was as tight as it could be as neither team took a lead more than five points.  As one team scored, the other countered with a basket and rebounds were even at 18 apiece.  In the first half alone 10 lead changes occurred in addition to eight ties. 

Bloomsburg took a three point lead with 1:08 to play in the first behind two corner three pointers by Catherine Noack (Bethlehem/Liberty).  Indiana Pa. closed out the half on a 6-2 run with two old fashioned three point plays from Ashley Stoner and Vianca Tejada to take a 38-37 lead at the break.

Kelsey Gallagher (East Stroudsburg/East Stroudsburg South) led all scorers with 15 first half points in addition to four assists and three rebounds.  Lauren Ellis (Bangor/Bangor) had seven points while Noack chipped in six.  The big story in the first half was Bloomsburg's foul troubles as all five starts entered the half with two personal fouls with the exception of Alyssa Flanagan (Freeland/Hazleton Area) who had three.  

The Huskies would find themselves down by five points in the first three minutes of play and the Crimson Hawk lead would hover around seven.  Eventually Indiana would take the game's largest lead, eight points, with six minutes to play 66-58. 

From there Bloomsburg chipped away at the Indiana lead, going on a 7-0 run behind two free throws from Dana Wieller (Bethlehem/Liberty) and five from Kayla Oxenrider (Ashland/Tri-Valley).  Oxenrider's second point during the run marked her 1,000th career point.

Trailing 66-65, Bloomsburg forced a turnover right before the final media timeout but would give it right back after the timeout, leading to two made free throws by Indiana's Marita Mathe.  Gallagher would respond on BU's next possession with two made free throws of her own, cutting the lead to 68-67 with three minutes to play. 

Sarah Pastorek of Indiana put the Crimson Hawks back on top with a layup but another two free throws from Wieller brought the lead back down to one.  Pastorek answered with two made free throws at the 1:46 mark to take a 72-69 lead.

On an out of bounds play, Wieller got an open layup to go down as the score stood at 72-71 with 1:29 left.  Bloomsburg's aggressive approach on defense led to another foul on Indiana's next possession. Mathe would make good on her free throw attempt, bringing the score to 73-71 with 1:16 to play.

Mathe would miss her second attempt as Oxenrider pulled down the defensive rebound.  She took the ball the length of the court only to see her layup rim-out.  From there, Indiana's Pastorek hit two foul shots to extend their lead to four with 42 seconds remaining. 

Gallagher cut the lead to two on BU's next possession as she worked her way down low for an easy lay-in.  The score now stood at 75-73 with 29 seconds to go.  Forced to foul, Bloomsburg sent Mathe to line for two attempts.  The freshman would connect on both, putting the Crimson Hawks back up by four with 26 seconds to go. 

With time running low, Wieller took a contested three pointer from the top of the arc only to see it come up short.  BU was forced to foul once again to stop the clock.  Indiana's Vianca Tejada was sent to the stripe and would miss both attempts.  Grabbing the defensive board, Gallagher sprinted up the court and found Noack open on the wing for a three pointer with eight seconds remaining.  BU now trailed 77-76. 

Bloomsburg's solid inbound defense forced an Indiana timeout and out of the timeout Bloomsburg fouled Tejada again.  Just like her last two attempts, Tejada came up short on both giving the Huskies one last opportunity for the win. 

Unfortunately for Bloomsburg, a turnover under their basket with just one second on the clock led to a one point loss and an early exit from the NCAA tournament. 

Gallagher led all scorers with 23 points while making eight assists and grabbing five rebounds.  Wieller added another 19 points, 15 coming in the second half to go along with a game high four steals.  Ellis and Noack each finished with 10 points. 

For the Crimson Hawks, Ashley Stoner and Pastorek led the team with 18 points apiece.  Stoner recorded a double-double as she grabbed 13 rebounds.