BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University women's basketball team used a dominant second half to erase a three-point halftime deficit and cruise to a 73-52 victory over visiting East Stroudsburg on Tuesday night at Nelson Field House. The Huskies improved to 5-1 overall and moved to 2-1 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division standings. The Warriors dropped to 1-6 overall and 0-4 in league play.
 
Junior Mia Hopkins (Pittston/Pittston Area) continued her remarkable start to the campaign, posting her sixth double-double in six games with the Huskies. She led Bloomsburg with 24 points to go along with 11 rebounds. She was just 6-of-14 from the field but was 2-of-2 from long distance and 10-of-11 from the free throw line. She added six assists and four steals.
 
Tuesday's double-double placed Hopkins alone atop the national rankings in that category. She is one of two players in the country to have posted a double-double in every game this season – Virginia State's Wynterra Pittman has five in five games.
 
Hopkins certainly had some help, getting excellent contributions from juniors Alex Ross (Lancaster/Manheim Township) and Morgan Klunk (Felton/York Catholic). Ross had 13 points, five rebounds, and five assists while Klunk reached double figures for the sixth time this season with 15 points on 6-of-8 from the field. She entered Tuesday's game ranked third in the conference in field goal percentage (60.0%).
 
As they have done for much of the early portion of the season, the Huskies got off to a sluggish start and trailed 30-27 at halftime. Bloomsburg made just 8-of-31 field goal attempts (25.8%) in the first half but stayed in the game thanks to a 9-of-10 showing at the free throw line in the opening twenty minutes.
 
The second half, however, belonged to the Huskies.
 
Bloomsburg outscored East Stroudsburg, 46-22, in the second half which included a 25-10 margin in the third quarter that turned a three-point deficit into a 12-point advantage heading to the final period. The Huskies shot 16-of-29 (55.2%) from the field in the second half and used a stifling defense to limit East Stroudsburg to just 9-of-38 (23.7%) from the floor.
 
East Stroudsburg's Allison Howard provided a spark for the visitors at the outset, scoring the Warriors' first seven points as they jumped out to a 7-2 lead. Bloomsburg, however, outscored East Stroudsburg, 9-2, over the last six minutes of the quarter to take an 11-9 lead after one.
 
The hosts got their lead up to three on several occasions in the second quarter before the Warriors scored the final six points of the stanza to take a 30-27 lead at intermission.
 
The Warriors still led by two, 36-34, with 6:38 left in the third quarter before the Huskies took over. Bloomsburg went on a 10-0 run over the next five minutes and outscored the Warriors, 18-4, over the final 6:38 to take a 12-point lead to the fourth. Ross tied the game at 36-36 with 6:15 left and then Klunk put the home team up for good with 4:15 remaining in the third.
 
With the Huskies continuing to build their lead, the only question remaining was whether Hopkins would be able to keep her double-double streak alive. She did just that, pulling down her tenth board of the game with 5:30 left in regulation. She added another for good measure before being taken out in the closing minutes with the Huskies leading by 19.
 
Freshman Alyssa Mack (Walnutport/Allentown Central Catholic) added nine points while redshirt senior Adreana Sadowski (Fleetwood/Brandywine Heights) and freshman Julia Gantz (Havertown/Archbishop John Carroll) chipped in with six points apiece. It was Sadowski's first game since November 22 as she missed the game against the University of the Sciences on November 29 due to an illness.
 
Howard finished the night with 17 points for the Warriors in a losing effort. East Stroudsburg did, however, hold a 48-39 rebounding edge – the first time this season that Bloomsburg was outrebounded.
 
Bloomsburg will jump right back into action at Nelson Field House when it hosts Mercyhurst University on Friday, December 4 and then Gannon University on Saturday, December 5. Tip-offs are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. respectively.