Box Score Box Score (HTML)  |  Photo Gallery

GLENVILLE, W. Va. – Edinboro used a second half comeback to rally past the Bloomsburg University women's basketball team and capture the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Championship with an 82-76 victory on Monday night at Jesse R. Lilly Gymnasium on the campus of Glenville State College.

Four players worked their way into double figures for the fourth-seeded Huskies (26-5), led by 18 points from junior Jocelyn Ford (Lansing, NY/Lansing) who also registered seven rebounds and six assists while going 8-of-12 from the floor. Senior Brianna Dudeck (Sugarloaf/Hazleton) posted 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting and fellow senior Catherine Noack (Bethlehem/Liberty) poured in 15 points. Redshirt sophomore Adreana Sadowski (Fleetwood/Brandywine Heights) added 10 points for Bloomsburg.

The second-seeded and 25th-ranked Fighting Scots (27-5) roared back from an 11-point second half deficit, taking advantage of Bloomsburg foul trouble and nearly flawless shooting at the foul line to rally after No. 14 Bloomsburg led nearly the entire way.

After leading by nine at the half, the Huskies stretched the lead to double digits to begin the second period on two foul shots from Sadowski and, following two shots at the line by Edinboro's Lauren Hippo, moved ahead by 11 once more following a jumper from Noack at the 17:38 mark.

Darche' Jackson answered with a runner in the lane for the Scots, who would never trail by more than nine the rest of the way. Bloomsburg moved its lead to 53-45 with 14:07 remaining, but Edinboro went on an 11-2 run to take its first lead of the entire game at 56-55 following a layup from Valerie Majewski.

The teams then began a see-saw battle for the lead with back-to-back threes from Noack and then Dudeck giving the Huskies the advantage, ultimately moving ahead 64-59 on a traditional three-point play from Dudeck with 8:27 left.

Dudeck's jumper with 3:35 remaining gave the Huskies what turned out to be their last advantage, 69-66, with 3:35 to go. Majewski nailed a 3-pointer 20 seconds later for the tie and a steal by Jackson led to another Scots three, this time from Hippo for a 72-69 lead. Marla Simmons (Lebanon/Cedar Crest) put in a layup on the opposite end to pull within a point, but Majewski and Hippo combined for consecutive lay-ups sandwiching a Huskies miss for a five-point lead and less than a minute left on the clock.

Noack gave the Huskies another glimmer of hope with her three-pointer to pull within 76-74 with 38 seconds left, but Edinboro continued what it had done all evening – sink clutch free throws. Hippo and Majewski delivered six straight shots at the stripe over the final 30 seconds to put the game away and send Edinboro to the Elite Eight.

The first half had been a different story.

Bloomsburg used red-hot shooting to build a first half lead, sinking 16 of 25 shot attempts for a 64.0 percent clip during the opening period.

The Huskies scored the game's first six points while holding Edinboro scoreless over the first four minutes of game time and pulled ahead 11-3 at the 14:04 mark before Majewski sank two free throws and Lauren Hippo drained a 3-pointer to close the gap to 11-8.

The teams remained separated by three possessions or less for nearly the entire half. Foul trouble forced Marla Simmons (Lebanon/Cedar Crest), Adreana Sadowski (Fleetwood/Brandywine Heights) and Erica Maciejewski (Red Lion/Red Lion) to the bench with two fouls apiece early on, allowing the Scots numerous opportunities at the line. Edinboro cashed in on those chances, going 14-15 at the stripe during the first half.

Bloomsburg weathered the storm, however, leading by as many as 12 points during the period after taking a 34-22 lead on a layup from Brianna Dudeck (Sugarloaf/Hazleton) with 3:36 to go. Edinboro trimmed that deficit to five, but the Huskies went to half with a 42-33 lead and an added jolt of momentum when Dudeck finished the half with a steal and a floater at the buzzer for the nine-point edge.

Foul shooting was key to Edinboro's comeback after intermission as the Scots went 31-34 at the foul stripe. The PSAC champions were just as strong from the field over the final 20 minutes, hitting on 57.7 percent from the floor (15-26).

"You can't give a team like Edinboro 34 opportunities at the foul line," Bloomsburg head coach Bill Cleary said. "They're definitely going to capitalize on that. It was a very well-officiated game; we just got a little undisciplined and they made us pay for our mistakes."

Hippo led all scorers with 23 points and Majewski poured in 16 of her 20 points during the second half rally while finishing 9-9 at the line. Jackson tallied 14 points and Aignee Freeland posted 14 points and nine rebounds.

"I'm extremely proud of these fantastic, special young ladies," Cleary said of his team. "You go back to October 15 and I don't think there are many people who could ever envision us being where we are now. That's a credit to them."

GAME NOTES: Seniors Brianna Dudeck (Sugarloaf/Hazleton) and Catherine Noack (Bethlehem/Liberty) finish their careers with 98 victories, tying for the most all-time for any four-year period in Bloomsburg history. Included in the run were four consecutive outright PSAC East titles as well as a PSAC championship. The Huskies went 98-23 over that span...Noack finishes the season by shattering the all-time PSAC single season record for 3-point percentage, shooting 49.5 percent (96-194) from beyond the arc. The previous record was 46.9 percent held by Bloomsburg's Christie Berry, set in 1997-98. With still more games to play, Edinboro's Lauren Hippo still maintains a chance to break Noack's mark, shooting over 50 percent (45-89) this year. The minimum attempts for the record is 75...Noack also finishes her career 10th all-time in Bloomsburg scoring with 1,274 career points and second in 3-pointers with 249...Noack's 96 3-pointers this year were one off the BU season record of 97 set in 2011-12 by Dana Wieller (Bethlehem/Liberty)....Jackson was named Atlantic Regional Tournament MVP while Ford, Noack, Majewski and Gannon's Jen Papich joined her on the All-Tournament Team...Edinboro advances to play the winner of the West Regional next week in Erie....the 26 wins by the Huskies this year are tied for second-most all-time in school history along with the 2011-12 and 1990-91 teams. Only the 28-win squad of 1988-89 won more....Bloomsburg is now 1-3 in regional finals, with their lone regional championship coming in 1989.