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CALIFORNIA, Pa. – Down 12 points with just over 12 minutes to play Friday, it appeared as though the stay for the Bloomsburg University women's basketball team in the 2015 NCAA Division II Tournament might be a short one. The Huskies, however, decided they weren't quite ready to head home.

Third-seeded Bloomsburg mounted a ferocious rally down the stretch to defeat No. 6 Gannon, 81-76, inside Hamer Hall on the campus of California (PA) University to advance into Saturday's Atlantic Region semifinals vs. No. 7 Shepherd, an upset winner over No. 2 IUP, on Saturday at 5 p.m., also at Hamer Hall.

Down seven at halftime, Bloomsburg seemingly could get no closer than four for the majority of the first 32 minutes as Gannon stifled nearly every rally attempt. The Golden Knights then extended their lead to 57-45 with 12:08 to play following a 3-pointer from McKenna Shives and appeared to have control of the contest.

Bloomsburg started its comeback with a shot by its youngest player – PSAC East Freshman of the Year Camden Boehner (Gettysburg/Gettysburg Area) sank a long 3-pointer to open a 7-0 break, cutting the score to 57-52 following a pair of shots at the line by Adreana Sadowski (Fleetwood/Brandywine Heights).

Sadowski's foul shots were more important than just narrowing Gannon's lead – they came following the fourth foul to Golden Knights senior and leading scorer Nettie Blake. Blake was forced to exit with 10:23 to play and from there the complexion of the game changed.

Gannon momentarily stemmed the tide with a put-back from Candice Hendricks on the next trip down the floor, but Sadowski began to dominate inside.

The redshirt junior scored 11 of Bloomsburg's next 13 points as the Huskies continued to chip away.

While Sadowski was working down low, senior Jocelyn Ford (Lansing, NY/Lansing) caught fire from the outside, giving the Huskies the lead on a long jumper, 67-66, with 5:14 remaining – the first advantage for Bloomsburg since leading 6-5 early in the first half.

Gannon sharpshooter Brittany Batts connected from long range for a 69-67 Golden Knights edge, but Ford answered on the next trip down the floor with a 3-pointer of her own for a 70-69 score.

The teams exchanged the lead back-and-forth over the next three-plus minutes with Gannon moving ahead, 74-73, after an offensive rebound and lay-in from Jennie Thies.

On a day filled with big shots, Ford made perhaps her biggest on a straight away 3-pointer for a 76-74 advantage following a feed from Taylor Kaminski (Philadelphia/Archbishop Wood) with 1:01 left.

The Huskies never trailed again.

Gannon's Mollie Sebald missed on a 3-point attempt and a GU foul sent Kaminski to the line where she made both for a 78-74 score. Batts then also misfired on a 3-pointer and Sadowski made one of two at the line with 20 seconds to go. Another Gannon miss left PSAC East Athlete of the Year Marla Simmons (Lebanon/Cedar Crest) to salt the game away with free throws, sending Bloomsburg on in the tournament.

Sadowski scored 17 of her 20 points in the second half, including 14 points over the final 16 minutes. She finished with a double-double, also pulling down 10 rebounds.

"Adreana stepped up her game in the second half and was the difference maker," head coach Bill Cleary said. "She was demanding the ball."

Ford also netted 20 points, on 7-of-12 shooting including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, handing out four assists as well. Taylor Maldonado (Stroudsburg/Allentown Central Catholic), Simmons and Kaminski all registered 11 points apiece.

"That's what makes our team a very difficult matchup. The next person always steps up," Cleary said.

Sebald posted a career-high 24 points for Gannon while Batts adding 16, Thies 11 and Blake 10.

Gannon saw most of its shots fall during a red hot first half, and many of those shots came off the fingertips of senior guard Sebald. The Lady Knights shot over 60 percent during the opening stanza (17-of-28) with Sebald leading the charge by sinking seven of 11 attempts for 17 points, just four off what was her previous career high set vs. West Chester early in the season.

The Golden Knights opened a lead of nine points twice in the first half, each time with the Huskies mounting a rally effort.

With Gannon up 24-15, the Huskies exited a timeout with Simmons seeing her first bucket of the day fall for a 24-17 score at the 9:10 mark. On the next trip down the floor, Simmons drained a 3-pointer from the top of the arc and the Huskies followed by stealing the Gannon inbounds pass. Sadowski put home a turnaround jumper underneath to draw within 24-22 in a flash.

Each time Bloomsburg would threaten, though, Gannon counterpunched as its shots continued to fall. The Golden Knights finished the half on a mini surge and took a 42-35 advantage to intermission despite five 3-pointers from Bloomsburg and 10 points from Maldonado.

"We had to take a deep breath and understand what we had to do," Ford said.

With the win, Bloomsburg improves to 25-4 overall while Gannon finishes its season at 21-8.

GAME NOTES: The Huskies advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year and improve to 9-9 in the tournament all-time including 5-5 in the first round ... Friday was the first-ever meeting between Bloomsburg and Gannon in the NCAA Tournament and the Huskies improve to 2-6 vs. the Golden Knights all-time. The other victory came in the 2013 PSAC Championship Game ... Bloomsburg is undefeated when Adreana Sadowski (Fleetwood/Brandywine Heights) has 10+ rebounds for her career (10-0) ... Ford continued her strong play in the NCAA Tournament after earning a spot on last year's All Atlantic Region Team ... Ford's 20 points are a season high ... The Huskies are 13-0 when out-rebounding their opponent, winning the battle of the boards by a 32-31 margin ... The 12-point deficit is the largest overcome by the Huskies in a victory this season ... Bloomsburg's 25 wins are tied fifth-most in school history.