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BLOOMSBURG – The Bloomsburg University women's basketball team played off the adrenaline and momentum of a roaring Nelson Field House Friday night to take down Edinboro University 76-73 in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) semifinal game.
 
With the win, the Huskies (23-5) move on to face Gannon University (28-3) in the PSAC Championship Saturday, March 9 at 7 p.m. at Nelson Field House in a 'White Out' game for BU fans. Bloomsburg will be making its second consecutive trip to the title game and admitted it used last years' loss to Edinboro in the championship as motivation to succeed.
 
Four players scored in double figures for the Huskies. Junior guard Catherine Noack (Bethlehem/Liberty) led the way with 16 points in a career-high-tying 37 minutes on the floor. She made all five of her free throw attempts and shot 5-for-11 from the field.
 
Senior guard Alyssa Flanagan (Freeland/Hazleton Area) scored 12 points, but left her mark on the glass with some crucial rebounds down the stretch. She had a team-high eight rebounds, two of which were on the offensive end, and also dished out a game-high six assists. Fellow seniors Lauren Ellis (Bangor/Bangor) and Kayla Oxenrider (Ashland/Tri-Valley) each finished with 10 points. The duo combined for 11 rebounds with Ellis grabbing six.
 
Senior guard Dana Wieller (Bethlehem/Liberty) had another well-rounded night for Bloomsburg. She finished with seven points, five rebounds, and five assists in 36 minutes.
 
Field goal percentage told the tale Friday night. Bloomsburg used a 50 percent (15-for-30) first half performance as part of a 44.8 percent (26-for-58) outing despite making just four three-pointers. It continued to go to the post and find players like Ellis and junior forward Danielle Derr (Dresner/Upper Dublin) for easy buckets in the paint.
 
Despite grabbing 19 offensive rebounds and turning the ball over six less times than Bloomsburg (15-21), the Fighting Scots shot just 33.3 percent (25-for-75) for the game.
 
“When we needed our defense to make a big stop or get a big rebound, we got it,” head coach Bill Cleary said. “Everyone who came in for us tonight did fantastic.”
 
Nelson Field House was the talk of the town Friday night. In front of over 800 fans, the Huskies found themselves speechless at times when trying to describe the moment and how important Bloomsburg's 'sixth man' was to them.
 
“The atmosphere tonight was unbelievable,” Flanagan said. “Even on the road in the playoffs, we've never seen anything close to that loud of an atmosphere. It was a huge factor in the game and it got our team fired up.”
 
Edinboro jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, making three of its opening four shots. Trailing 13-6, the Huskies went on a 9-3 run to take their first lead of the night (16-15) off Noack's lone three-pointer of the game.
 
The lead grew out to seven in the first half as back-to-back layups by Ellis gave Bloomsburg a 26-19 lead with 5:58 to play in the opening half. Sophomore guard Jocelyn Ford (Lansing, NY/Lansing) scored BU's final four points of the half to give Bloomsburg a 37-32 lead heading into the locker room.
 
The Huskies led by a game-high nine points at the 17:22 mark of the second half, however, Edinboro refused to quit and responded with a 9-2 run over the next 3:41 to bring the BU lead to 48-46 with 13:41 to play. BU shot 1-for-5 from the field during the stretch.
 
Edinboro took its first lead of the second half (54-53) off an and-one layup from Lindsay Laurel with 11:25 to play. Still trailing Edinboro by one (65-64), Derr scored five straight points in just 56 seconds including an and-one off an assist from Wieller to give BU a 69-65 lead with five minutes to play.
 
Yet again, Edinboro came back to take the lead for what would be the final time off a quick 5-0 burst capped with a three-pointer by Kiara Brown. Bloomsburg, however, owned the final two minutes as five straight free throws gave it another four-point cushion.
 
“We knew they were going to make a run eventually and we just had to make sure we could withstand it,” Flanagan said. “We did a good job though of staying composed and not getting rattled down the stretch.”
 
Laurel gave her Fighting Scots a final shot with a three-point play with 56 seconds to play. Edinboro then stole the inbounds pass, grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed jumper, but could not box out Bloomsburg's Flanagan on a Bobbi Baker missed layup. Flanagan grabbed the rebound and following a pair of Wieller free throws with 11 seconds to play, Edinboro missed a poor three-point attempt at the buzzer to give Bloomsburg the victory.
 
Brown led Edinboro with 22 points before fouling out late in the game. She was 7-of-24 from the field and grabbed six rebounds. Laurel finished with a double-double at 17 points and 12 rebounds including eight offensive rebounds. Darche' Jackson and Baker both finished with 10 points.
 
The winner of tomorrow night's championship game receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Regardless, Bloomsburg increased its chances of getting at least an automatic qualifier entry with its win over Edinboro, who was ranked second in the latest regional poll.