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BLOOMSBURG—Jocelyn Ford (Lansing, NY/Lansing) scored a game-high 23 points to help rally the Bloomsburg University women's basketball team to a 63-51 win over East Stroudsburg University on Wednesday night in PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) Eastern Division action.
 
Ford scored 20 of her points after halftime and also tied her career high in assists with nine, with eight them coming in the first half.
 
Bloomsburg (12-3, 3-2 PSAC East), playing without two key players due to injury, jumped out to the early lead in the game going up 12-6 in the first three and a half minutes of play. Marla Simmons (Lebanon/Cedar Crest) scored five points and Adreana Sadowski (Fleetwood/Brandywine Heights) added four for the Huskies.
 
The Warriors (808, 3-3 PSAC East) rallied to take the lead using a 17-6 spurt to go out on top, 23-17 after an Audrey Stapleton layup with 7:14 to play in the half. But the Huskies used a couple of three-pointers from Lauren Nealon (Ambler/Archbishop Wood) to tie the game at 24-24 with 3:45 to go before the break with the Warriors going to halftime with a 28-26 lead.
 
In the first half of play Ford had three points, three rebounds and eight assists for Bloomsburg.
 
East Stroudsburg equaled its biggest lead of the game at six points on two occasions early in the second half, the last coming with 14:02 to play on a layup from Allison Howard. Ford then took over the game for Bloomsburg, which lost backup center Nikki Tamanosky (Camp Hill/Cumberland Valley) to an injury early in the second half, putting even more pressure on an already thin Huskies lineup.
 
Ford, a junior scored 11 of the Huskies next 16 points, including seven straight, to put Bloomsburg back on top 43-39 with 8:37 to play. She also played in the post defensively for the Huskies and was handling the ball out front against the Warriors pressure.
 
After the Warriors got back to within a bucket at 51-49 with 4:50 to play, Ford drained a three-pointer to put Bloomsburg back up five and started a 12-2 run for the Huskies. Ford also converted a layup and hit two free throws as Bloomsburg pulled away and won 63-51.
 
Ford played all 40 minutes in the game and finished 8-20 from the floor and added five rebounds and two steals to her stat line. It was the third straight game that Ford scored 20 or more points. Nealon came off the bench to add nine points, while Simmons and Catherine Noack (Bethlehem/Liberty) each chipped in with eight for the Huskies.
 
East Stroudsburg got 10 points from Jessica Martin.
 
Bloomsburg plays at West Chester on Saturday at 1 p.m.