Women's Basketball | 11/30/2015 4:32:00 PM
BLOOMSBURG (4-1, 1-1 PSAC East) vs EAST STROUDSBURG (1-5, 0-3 PSAC East)
Tuesday, December 1, 2015 - 7:30 p.m.
Bloomsburg, Pa. | Nelson Field House
GAME NOTES:Bloomsburg vs East Stroudsburg Game NotesGAME COVERAGE:Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/bloomu/wbball/Live Audio (WHLM-AM): http://www.whlmam.comRELATED LINKS:Bloomsburg -
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StatisticsEast Stroudsburg - Roster |
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StatisticsA LOOK BACK ...Bloomsburg improved to 5-0 lifetime against the University of the Sciences on Sunday afternoon after hanging on for a 62-61 victory. The Huskies needed a missed shot attempt at the buzzer to hold off the upset bid. With the win, Bloomsburg improved to 4-1 on the season.
VS. UNIVERSITY OF THE SCIENCES (11-29) ...Bloomsburg got a scare from the University of the Sciences but was able to escape with a 62-61 victory over the Devils in the team's first home game of the season. The Huskies needed a miss at the buzzer to improve to 4-1 overall on the season. Bloomsburg led by a dozen points to start the fourth quarter but managed just seven points in the final stanza as the Devils chipped away. With the game tied at 60-60 with 1:45 left, junior
Mia Hopkins (Pittston/Pittston Area) hit a jumper that proved to be the game-winner. Junior
Alex Ross (Lancaster/Manheim Township) scored a career-high 18 points to pace the Huskies while Hopkins added her fifth double-double in as many games (13 points, 16 rebounds). Junior
Morgan Klunk (Felton/York Catholic) also reached double-digits, posting 12 points in the win.
THE EAST STROUDSBURG SERIES ...Bloomsburg leads the all-time series against East Stroudsburg, 51-20. The Huskies have won the last 13 meetings between the two schools and have not lost to the Warriors since February 11, 2009 when East Stroudsburg beat Bloomsburg by a 70-58 final at Nelson Field House. That victory by the Warriors was the last of a string of eight straight wins by East Stroudsburg in the series.
LAST SEASON ...Bloomsburg opened last season's home-and-home series with a 60-51 win at East Stroudsburg on December 6, 2014. The Huskies led by as many as 18 points midway through the second half before the Warriors closed to within nine at the final buzzer.
Marla Simmons (Lebanon/Cedar Crest) led three Huskies in double figures with 11 points.
Morgan Klunk (Felton/York Catholic) and
Taylor Maldonado (Stroudsburg/Allentown Central Catholic) each had ten in the victory.
Jocelyn Ford (Lansing, NY/Lansing) narrowly missed a double-double for the Huskies, chipping in with nine points and a team-high eight rebounds. Jessica Martin scored 18 of ESU's 51 points in the loss.
The teams met again at Nelson Field House on February 7, 2015 with Bloomsburg earning a 62-40 victory. It was
Bill Cleary's 200th career victory overall and was the Huskies' 24th consecutive win against a PSAC East foe - setting a PSAC record. Simmons had 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead Bloomsburg while Tyeca Reviere led the Warriors with nine points. Bloomsburg forced 29 Warrior turnovers in the victory. Ford added 12 points in the win for the Huskies.
SCOUTING EAST STROUDSBURG ...The Warriors enter Tuesday's action with a 1-5 overall record and an 0-3 mark in conference play. East Stroudsburg has two familiar faces on the bench as head coach Diane Decker is in her first season as the full-time head coach. Decker was
Bill Cleary's assistant at Bloomsburg from 2008-15, helping the Huskies to five straight PSAC East titles and four straight NCAA appearances. Decker's assistant is
Marla Simmons (Lebanon/Cedar Crest), who completed a standout career with the Huskies last March. She was the PSAC East Player of the Year and was a WBCA Honorable Mention All-American last season.
The Warriors are averaging just 56.8 points per game on offense and are led in scoring by Allison Howard who is averaging 14.0 points per game. She is also third on the team in rebounding, pulling down 6.2 boards per game. Imani Brown is next, posting 8.5 points per contest. Michelle Boggs and Tyeca Reviere are tied for the team lead in rebounding at 6.5 per game while Reviere also leads with 23 assists (3.8 per game). East Stroudsburg opponents are scoring at a 65.3 per game clip this season.
HUSKIES TIED FOR SIXTH IN ATLANTIC REGION ...Bloomsburg enters the contest ranked in a tie for sixth place in the Atlantic Region according to the latest Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) media poll released on Monday. The Huskies received 24 points in the regional poll, up from the 20 points they received last week. West Liberty leads the rankings with all six first-place votes and 60 total points. California (PA) is right behind with 54 total points.
Bloomsburg is also receiving votes in the latest USA Today Sports Top 25 Division II Women's Basketball Coaches' Poll released last Tuesday. The Huskies received 38 total points in the rankings - third among others receiving votes. Emporia State is tops in the country, according to the poll,  getting 20 first-place votes and 593 total points. The Huskies, however, are not receiving votes in the D2SIDA Media Poll.
DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK ...Bloomsburg earned a season-opening 76-72 victory at New Haven on November 13. The Huskies trailed, however, for a majority of the contest, falling behind by as many as 18 points with 9:01 left in the second quarter and still trailed by double digits with 2:38 left in the third quarter before mounting a comeback. The Huskies outscored the Chargers, 27-16, in the fourth quarter to come away with the win. Then, at Seton Hill on November 21, the Huskies pulled off an even more impressive come-from-behind victory against the Griffins. Trailing 71-58 with 6:56 left in regulation, Bloomsburg scored the next 20 points over the net 6:30 to take a seven-point lead. The Huskies held on from there, 82-79, to post a win the PSAC opener.
THAT WAS CLOSE ...The University of the Sciences gave Bloomsburg everything it could handle on Sunday, but the Huskies escaped with a 62-61 victory, needing a miss at the buzzer to earn the win. The Huskies led by 12 after three quarters and extended the lead to 15 after junior
Kristie Costantino (Norristown/Archbishop John Carroll) nailed a triple to start the fourth. Bloomsburg, however, scored four points over the last nine minutes as the Devils chipped away. Junior
Mia Hopkins (Pittston/Pittston Area) hit a jumper with 1:45 left to snap a 60-60 tie. The shot proved to be the game-winning basket.
FIRST TIME IN A WHILE ...Junior
Mia Hopkins (Pittston/Pittston Area) recorded her fifth double-double in as many games this season on Sunday, scoring 13 points and pulling down a season-high 16 rebounds. The 16 rebounds marked the first time that a Bloomsburg player had at least 15 boards in a game since Colleen Kegerreis pulled down 15 in a 71-70 loss against Cheyney on Janaury 14, 2009.
ROSS RISES TO THE OCCASION ...Junior
Alex Ross (Lancaster/Manheim Township) is taking advantage of a significant increase in playing time this season. Ross scored a career-high 18 points in Sunday's 62-61 win over University of the Sciences, going 9-of-12 from the field in the process. It was the third time in five games this season that Ross has hit double figures. She scored her previous highs of 11 against both New Haven and Goldey-Beacom. She averaged 1.0 point and 1.1 rebounds as a freshman and then 1.2 points and 1.7 rebounds last season. This season, she is fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 10.0 points per game, and is third in rebounding at 5.4 boards per contest. She has already established career-highs in both categories.
THREE-POINT STRUGGLES ...Bloomsburg enters Tuesday's contest ranked dead-last in the PSAC in three-point field goal percentage, making just 21 of its 91 long range attempts (23.1%). Bloomsburg averages only 4.2 three-pointers per game thus far with freshman
Alyssa Mack (Walnutport/Allentown Central Catholic) leading the way with five. However, Mack is just 5-of-23 from beyond the arc (21.7%). Leading the way in three-point-percentage  is junior
Alex Ross (Lancaster/Manheim Township) who is 3-of-11 (27.3%).
GLASS CLEANERS ...Bloomsburg has gotten off to a good start on the boards through the first five games of the season. The Huskies average 40.6 rebounds per game, sixth in the conference, but their rebounding margin of +4.0 is third in the league. Bloomsburg has outrebounded, or tied its opponent in rebounds, in all five games this season including a 43-29 edge on the glass in Sunday's victory over University of the Sciences.
HOPKINS EARNS BACK-TO-BACK PSAC EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARDS ...For the second week in a row, junior
Mia Hopkins (Pittston/Pittston Area) was named the PSAC East Player of the Week for her performance from November 16 to November 23. Hopkins recorded three double-doubles in three games to lift the Huskies to a 2-1 record during the week. For the week, Hopkins scored 60 points (20.0 per game) and pulled down 34 rebounds (11.3 per game). She also had 10 assists (3.3 per game), 10 steals (3.3 per game), and three blocked shots (1.0 per game). She recorded 17 points and 10 rebounds in a 71-54 win at Goldey-Beacom on November 17. She then opened PSAC play with 27 points and 11 rebounds in the Huskies' come-from-behind 82-79 win at Seton Hill on Novmber 21. She followed that up with 16 points and 13 rebounds in a loss at California (PA). The week prior, Hopkins, playing in her first career game at Bloomsburg, scored 24 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and dished out six assists in a season-opening victory at New Haven and was named PSAC East Player of the Week (November 16).
MACK NAMED PSAC EAST FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK ...Freshman
Alyssa Mack (Walnutport/Allentown Central Catholic) was named the PSAC East Freshman of the Week for her performance from November 16 to November 23. Mack was Bloomsburg's top rookie performer during the week as she averaged 9.0 points and 3.3 rebounds while also adding two assists and four steals in the three contests. She posted her first collegiate double-digit output with 10 points, three rebounds, and two steals in a win at Goldey-Beacom on Tuesday. She then posted a season-best 11 points, including three triples, and four rebounds in Sunday's loss at California (PA).
DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE ...Junior
Mia Hopkins (Pittston/Pittston Area) could not have asked for a better start to her Bloomsburg University career. In five career games with the Huskies, Hopkins has posted five double-doubles which currently leads the PSAC and is tied for first in the country. Entering Tuesday's game, Hopkins is averaging 19.4 points per game (third in PSAC), 12.8 rebounds per game (first in PSAC), 4.2 assists per game (ninth in PSAC), and 2.8 steals per game (second in PSAC). Her stat lines for the first five games:
at New Haven (11/13/15) - 24 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals
at Goldey-Beacom (11/17/15) - 17 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 3 steals
at Seton Hill (11/21/15) - 27 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals
at California (PA) (11/22/15) - 16 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals
vs University of the Sciences (11/29/15) - 13 points, 16 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals
NO KLUNK-ER HERE ...While Hopkins has been getting much of the spotlight, junior
Morgan Klunk (Felton/York Catholic) has put together a fine start to her 2015-16 season. She ranks second on the team in scoring (14.8), fourth on the team in rebounding (5.2), and second on the team in assists (3.6). She is also third in the conference in field goal percentage, knocking down 27 of her 45 shot attempts for a 60.0% clip.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE ...Bloomsburg returns to action this Friday and Saturday, December 4 and 5, when it hosts PSAC West foes Mercyhurst and Gannon at Nelson Field House. The Huskies will host the Lakers at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and then will take on the Golden Knights on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
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