Box Score (HTML)

BLOOMSBURG – Another solid team defensive effort and standout performance from senior Marla Simmons (Lebanon/Cedar Crest) pushed the 17th-ranked Bloomsburg University women's basketball team past Seton Hill, 71-63, on Saturday afternoon at Nelson Field House.

The victory moves the Huskies to 8-2 overall on the year and 6-1 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference play while Seton Hill drops to 5-7, 2-5.

Saturday's game was delayed two hours due to travel woes for Seton Hill; the Griffins were forced to wait out inclement weather before finally hitting the road and did not reach Bloomsburg until approximately 45 minutes prior to tipoff which finally came shortly after 3 p.m.

Despite the less than ideal situation, the Griffins opened the game strong – Seton Hill pushed to a 19-12 lead following a jumper from Lindsay Mifsud with 10:39 remaining in the first half.

The Huskies then embarked on a 12-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Camden Boehner (Gettysburg/Gettysburg Area) for a 24-19 edge before Seton Hill rallied for a 25-24 advantage with 4:11 left in the period.

Boehner then connected from long range again for a 27-25 Huskies lead as the hosts finished the half on a 10-2 sprint before Mifsud delivered a 3-pointer to cut the Bloomsburg cushion to 34-30 heading into intermission.

Bloomsburg never trailed during the second half, finally seizing control with a 10-3 run.

Leading 41-35 with 16:28 remaining in the game, Taylor Maldonado (Stroudsburg/Allentown Central Catholic) came up with a steal and ran coast-to-coast for the layup to start the break away. A layup from Nikki Tamanosky (Camp Hill/Cumberland Valley) gave the Huskies a double digit advantage for the first time at 47-37 and another bucket inside from Tamanosky a minute later gave Bloomsburg its largest lead of the day at 51-38 with just over 13 minutes to go.

Seton Hill still had a rally effort left, however.

A 9-2 run brought the Griffins to within 55-52 following a layup from Kelly Brennan with 7:54 remaining. A scoreless minute of action came to an end with Simmons draining a pair of shots at the line for a 57-52 edge, but Brennan hit from beyond the arc again to pull within 57-55.

The Griffins came all the way back to tie the game at 57-all on a bucket underneath from Cha Cha Williams with 5:23 to play.

Another Griffins foul sent Simmons to the line again for two shots and a 59-57 score to start a 6-0 run followed by two more buckets from the stripe by Simmons and a layup from Adreana Sadowski (Fleetwood/Brandywine Heights) for a 63-57 lead at the 3:19 mark.

Jocelyn Ford (Lansing, NY/Lansing) netted a 3-pointer after the Griffins again pulled within four, pressing the Huskies lead to 66-59 with 2:04 to go. Seton Hill's Meghan Mastroianni answered with a shot beyond the arc of her own on the next trip down the floor for a 66-62 score at the 1:46 mark.

Simmons helped put the game away, first by working inside for a score and then, following a defensive stop and rebound by Ford, sank two more shots at the line for a 70-62 lead with 53 seconds to go.

It was part of another stellar day for Simmons, who tallied a game-high 22 points along with six rebounds, six assists and two steals. The senior went 14-of-14 from the line on the afternoon.

Ford reached double-figure scoring for the fourth straight game, netting 16 points along with five boards and three assists. Sadowski was a terror inside, swatting a career high six shots and chipped in eight points.

The Huskies limited Seton Hill to just 35.6 percent shooting from the floor on the day (21-59) and forced the Griffins into 26 turnovers.

Bloomsburg shared the ball extremely well, accounting for 19 assists on 24 made baskets.

Brennan paced the Griffins with 15 points while Mifsud recorded 14 points off the bench.

The Huskies host California (PA) on Sunday afternoon at Nelson Field House in a meeting of nationally ranked teams with tipoff slated for 1 p.m.