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EDINBORO, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University women's basketball team used a 30-15 run during the second half to rally from a 14-point deficit and seize the lead with three and a half minutes to play, but could not hold off No. 3 Gannon over the waning moments in Saturday's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) semifinal, falling to the Golden Knights, 57-51.

The loss ends what was a 17-game winning streak for the 14th-ranked Huskies (24-4), with their last prior loss before Saturday also coming at the hands of Gannon on Dec. 21. With the win Gannon (27-2) advances to Sunday's PSAC Championship Game against Edinboro, which defeated West Chester in the second semifinal of the day.

Gannon appeared to have the game completely in hand just under four minutes into the second half, taking a 33-19 lead on a 3-pointer from Brittany Batts. From there, though, the Huskies launched a ferocious comeback.

After not gaining much of any traction inside through the first 25 minutes, the Huskies began to chip away at Gannon's post defense. Bloomsburg finally received its first trip to the foul line of the entire game at the 14:25 mark of the second half, and back-to-back perfect trips to the line from Erica Maciejewski (Red Lion/Red Lion) and Catherine Noack (Bethlehem/Liberty) cut the Gannon lead to 10. A jumper from Marla Simmons (Lebanon/Cedar Crest) then sliced the deficit to 33-25 with 14:04 to play.


Simmons brought the Huskies all the way back with a three from in front of her own bench to tie the score at 46 apiece with 4:59 showing on the McComb Fieldhouse clock.

Gannon's Nettie Blake pounded inside for a bucket and one of two at the line by Simmons cut the score to 48-47. Following another defensive stop, a layup from Taylor Kaminski (Philadelphia/Archbishop Wood) put the Huskies ahead, 49-48, with 3:32 left – their first lead since the 3:17 mark of the first half.

It would turn out to be Bloomsburg's only lead of the second period, however. A Huskies foul sent Jen Papich to the line and the senior connected on both for a 50-49 lead to start a 9-1 Gannon run to take control over the final minutes. The dagger came from Papich, who brought the partisan Gannon crowd to life with a traditional three-point play with 46 seconds remaining for a 54-49 lead.

Bloomsburg had opportunities to reel in Gannon over the final minute, but missed shots and free throws ended any thoughts of a rally.

"One of the strengths we've had all year is our foul shooting and we didn't do a particularly good job of that today," head coach Bill Cleary said. "We missed shots we normally make. A great team like Gannon is going to take advantage of that."

Bloomsburg had a 24-17 deficit at halftime after shooting just 21.9 percent (7-of-32) during the opening half. The Huskies rallied from a 10-2 hole to start the game, taking a 15-11 lead at the 11:54 mark before both teams went ice cold. Gannon was just 7-20 from the floor during the opening half, but went 8-9 at the line while the Huskies were shut out from the charity stripe. The Golden Knights embarked on a 13-6 run to end the first half and enter the locker room with a seven-point edge.

Noack led the way with 13 points while Simmons added nine points and six rebounds. Adreana Sadowski (Fleetwood/Brandywine Heights) had eight points while Dudeck ignited the second half rally and finished with seven points, five rebounds and four steals. Maciejewski played strong minutes off the bench with six points and four boards.

Batts netted a game-high 18 points for Gannon while Papich finished with 14.

The Huskies will now await their NCAA Tournament fate with the Division II Selection Show on Sunday night at 10 p.m. Fans can watch the show by clicking the following link: http://www.ncaa.com/live/player?vid=2014/1345&date=2014/03/09

"We feel our body of work has been strong," Cleary said. "Our kids have a ton of character. We feel they've earned a spot. It stings right now, obviously, but maybe this is the medicine we need right now to jumpstart a new streak. We just want to play. We don't care where they send us; we just want to be playing."

GAME NOTES: The Huskies are hoping to make their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance. It would be the longest stretch of NCAA Tournament appearances since a four-year run from 1988-92...Bloomsburg ranked fourth in last week's Atlantic Region rankings while Gannon was No. 1. The top eight teams advance to the NCAA Tournament. One spot is already taken by Shaw, which captured the automatic bid from the CIAA. The winner of Sunday's PSAC Championship Game will take another automatic bid, leaving the final six spots for at-large teams ... the starting five of Klunk, Noack, Ford, Simmons and Sadowski is now 18-2 on the year with their only two losses coming vs. Gannon ... the Knights held a 36-29 edge on the boards ... Saturday's game was a re-match of last year's PSAC Championship Game won by the Huskies ... sophomore Nicole Southcott (Downingtown/Coatesville) was named PSAC Champion Scholar prior to Saturday's game.