Women's Basketball | 1/2/2016 10:10:00 PM

BLOOMSBURG (7-4, 4-3 PSAC East) vs SLIPPERY ROCK (7-5, 4-3 PSAC West)
Sunday, January 3, 2016 - 3:00 p.m.
Bloomsburg, Pa. | Nelson Field House

GAME NOTES:
Bloomsburg vs Slippery Rock Game Notes

GAME COVERAGE:
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/bloomu/wbball/
Live Audio (WHLM-AM): http://www.whlmam.com

RELATED LINKS:
Bloomsburg - Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Slippery Rock - Roster | Schedule | Statistics

LAST TIME OUT ...
Bloomsburg suffered its first loss of the season when leading after three quarters (4-1) as Philadelphia erased a slim four-point deficit to knock off the Huskies, 76-72, at Nelson Field House on December 30. Bloomsburg shot 52.6% from the field (30-of-57) but turned the ball over 19 times and was outrebounded by a 44-23 margin. Mia Hopkins (Pittston/Pittston Area) and Adreana Sadowski (Fleetwood/Brandywine Heights) led the way with 19 points apiece and also pulled down a team-high five rebounds each. Alex Ross (Lancaster/Manheim Township) finished with 12 points while Kristie Costantino (Norristown/Archbishop John Carroll) reached double digits for the first time in her Bloomsburg career after scoring 11 points in her second start of the season. Philadelphia's Tori Arnao nearly outrebounded Bloomsburg by herself as she recorded 17 points and a game-high 21 rebounds.

THE SLIPPERY ROCK SERIES ...
Bloomsburg leads the all-time series against Slippery Rock by a 14-12 margin. The Huskies have won the last four meetings between the two schools by an average of just over 27 points per game. The Rock's last victory against Bloomsburg came on January 12, 2008 - an 81-51 win over Bloomsburg at Morrow Field House in Slippery Rock.

LAST MEETING AGAINST SLIPPERY ROCK ...
Bloomsburg limited Slippery Rock to just 19 second half points as the Huskies cruised to an 80-47 victory at Morrow Field House in Slippery Rock on January 7, 2015. Adreana Sadowski (Fleetwood/Brandywine Heights) poured in a game-high 24 points and blocked six shots in the victory. Camden Boehner (Gettysburg/Gettysburg Area) was the only other Bloomsburg player in double figures after finishing with 19. The Huskies made 10 three-pointers (10-of-20) and limited Slippery Rock to just 31.0% shooting. D'Asia Chambers led Slippery Rock with 16 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
 
SCOUTING SLIPPERY ROCK ...
Slippery Rock enters the contest on a modest two-game losing streak but still brings a 7-5 overall record and a 4-3 mark in the PSAC West into Nelson Field House. The Rock last played on December 19, dropping a 61-58 decision at home against Seton Hill. Slippery Rock started the skid with an 80-65 home loss to Mercyhurst on December 16. Slippery Rock is 0-3 against teams from the PSAC West but is a perfect 4-0 against PSAC Eastern Division teams. Lexi Carpenter leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.7 points per game. She also averages a team-high 4.6 assists per game on the season. Audrey Stapleton averages 11.7 points per game while Ciara Patterson chips in 11.0 points per contest. The Rock struggles on the boards as they have been outrebounded by an average of 6.2 rebounds per game - last in the PSAC. Slippery Rock does, however, lead the PSAC in three-point shooting (39.6%) and free throw percentage (77.3%).

HOPKINS NAMED PSAC EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR THIRD TIME ...
Junior Mia Hopkins (Pittston/Pittston Area) was named the PSAC East Player of the Week on December 21 after averaging 22.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in a 1-1 week for the Huskies. She also chipped in four assists and three steals per game while shooting an astounding 18-of-25 (.720) from the field. She had 22 points and seven rebounds in a loss at West Chester on December 16 then scored 22 points (on 9-of-10 shooting) and grabbed nine boards in the victory over Mansfield on December 19. It was the third time this season that she has claimed the honor after winning back-to-back awards on November 16 and November 23.

GANTZ NAMED PSAC EAST FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK ...
For the first time in her young collegiate career, freshman Julia Gantz (Havertown/Archbishop John Carroll) was honored by the PSAC with a weekly honor. Gantz earned the East's Freshman of the Week award on December 21 after averaging 13.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.0 steals in a 1-1 week for the Huskies. She poured in a career-high 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 4-of-7 from long distance in the loss at West Chester on December 16. She added eight points in just 15 minutes in the victory over Mansfield on December 19. It marked the third time that a Husky rookie has claimed the weekly honor from the PSAC - Alyssa Mack (Walnutport/Allentown Central Catholic) won the award twice on November 23 and on December 7.

REBOUNDING WOES ...
Bloomsburg struggled mightily on the glass during the loss to Philadelphia on December 30. The Huskies were outrebounded by a 44-23 margin with Adreana Sadowski (Fleetwood/Brandywine Heights) and Mia Hopkins (Pittston/Pittston Area) each pulling down a team-high five boards. Philadelphia had 20 offensive rebounds as opposed to Bloomsburg's four. The Rams' Tori Arnao nearly outrebounded the Huskies by herself - she finished with a game-high 21 boards. Bloomsburg has now been outrebounded by an average of 2.4 boards per game - tied for 13th in the PSAC.

GANTZ HEATING UP ...
Freshman Julia Gantz (Havertown/Archbishop John Carroll) is on a hot streak and is giving Bloomsburg another offensive scoring threat as the second half of the season approaches. After starting the season with just 14 points in her first five games (2.8 points per game), Gantz was moved to the bench and has thrived in that role by averaging 8.7 points and 2.7 rebounds over the last six contests. She had a career-high 18 points in the loss at West Chester on December 16. The game prior, Gantz reached double figures for the first time in her career with 10 points in a loss against Gannon on December 5. In her first five games, Gantz was 6-of-30 from the field (.200) and 2-of-9 from long distance (.222). Over her last six contests, Gantz is 18-of-44 from the field (.409) and 7-of-18 from three-point range (.389). She nailed four triples against West Chester - she entered the game with only three makes through her first eight games.

HOPKINS AMONG BEST ...
Junior Mia Hopkins (Pittston/Pittston Area) has taken the league by storm through the opening two months of the regular season. She ranks in the top ten in the PSAC in a number of categories, including points per game (second), rebounds per game (fourth), double-doubles (first), assists per game (tied for ninth), and steals per game (first) She is also 12th in the PSAC in field goal percentage (50.3%), 10th in free throw percentage (83.1%), tied for 11th in blocks per game (1.1), and 11th in minutes per game (33.4). In the country, Hopkins is seventh in double-doubles, 14th in rebounds, 18th in steals, and 23rd in scoring.

STARTERS PROVIDING THE SCORING ...
Through eleven games of the regular season, Bloomsburg is getting most of its offensive production from its five starters - juniors Mia Hopkins (Pittston/Pittston Area), Morgan Klunk (Felton/York Catholic), and Alex Ross (Lancaster/Manheim Township); redshirt senior Adreana Sadowski (Fleetwood/Brandywine Heights); and a combination of freshmen Alyssa Mack (Walnutport/Allentown Central Catholic) and Julia Gantz (Havertown/Archbishop John Carroll) and junior Kristie Costantino (Norristown/Archbishop John Carroll). Mack has started each of the last five games (once for Sadowski who missed the University of the Sciences game with an illness) while Gantz started the first five. Costantino has started the last two games of the season.

The Huskies' bench has scored just a total of 136 points in eleven games - an average of 12.4 points per game. The bench has provided 17.2% of the team's scoring through the first eleven games. In comparison, the opponents' bench has scored 151 points in eleven games (13.7 points per game) - 19.9% of the opponents' point total this season.

IMPRESSIVE CAREER ...
Redshirt senior Adreana Sadowski (Fleetwood/Brandywine Heights) is putting together a fine career in a Bloomsburg uniform. Chosen as a preseason All-PSAC East selection, Sadowski ranks second on the team in scoring (13.8 ppg), second on the team in rebounding (6.4 rpg), and tops in blocked shots (2.2 bpg). She leads the PSAC in field goal percentage at 62.9% and also leads the conference in blocks per game at 2.2. After scoring a season-high 24 points in the win over Mansfield on December 19, and then scoring 19 more against Philadelphia on December 30, Sadowski now needs 74 points to join the 1,000-point club - Catherine Noack was the last player to score at least 1,000 points, joining the club during the 2013-14 campaign. Sadowski now also has 145 career blocks in a Husky uniform - third on the program's all-time list.

TURNOVERS COSTLY ...
Bloomsburg struggled to hang on to the basketball against West Chester on Wednesday, December 16 and it proved to be costly for the Huskies. Bloomsburg turned the ball over 24 times which led to 38 West Chester points during the Huskies' 91-74 loss to the Golden Rams. Bloomsburg did everything else pretty well - it shot 50% from the field (27-of-54), shot 77.8% from the foul line (14-of-18), and outrebounded West Chester, 30-28. The difference was the points off turnovers category - West Chester held the edge in that category, 38-9. Over eleven games, the Huskies are averaging 19.1 turnovers per game which has led to an average of 18.9 points off of turnovers for their opponents.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE ...
Junior Mia Hopkins (Pittston/Pittston Area) could not have asked for a better start to her Bloomsburg University career. In eleven career games with the Huskies, Hopkins has posted seven double-doubles, which is currently tops in the PSAC and seventh in the country. She opened the season with seven consecutive double-doubles but saw her streak end at seven in the loss to Gannon on December 5 when she finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Hopkins, however, has now gone four straight games without a double-double but is still second in the conference in scoring (19.4) and fourth in rebounding (11.0).

FIRST TIME IN A WHILE ...
Junior Mia Hopkins (Pittston/Pittston Area) scored 13 points and pulled down a season-high 16 rebounds in the win over the University of the Sciences on November 29. The 16 rebounds was 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. Hopkins recorded another 16-rebound effort against Mercyhurst on December 4.

TOO MANY SECOND CHANCES ...
During the three-game stretch against East Stroudsburg, Mercyhurst, and Gannon from Decemebr 1 to December 5, the Huskies were outrebounded in all three games and really struggled in allowing multiple chances for the opponents to score. The Warriors, Lakers, and Lady Knights pulled down 64 offensive rebounds during the three-game stretch (21.3 per game), including 26 by Mercyhurst in Bloomsburg's double overtime victory over the Lakers on December 4. Fortunately for the Huskies, the teams only averaged 11 second-chance points in the three games. Bloomsburg has now been outrebounded 447-421 for the season but has allowed 171 opponents' offensive rebounds (15.5 per game). In comparison, the Huskies have 112 offensive boards (10.2) in eleven games.

ROSS RISING 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 the 62-61 win over University of the Sciences on November 29, going 9-of-12 from the field in the process. She added 13 points, five rebounds, and a career-high five assists in the victory over East Stroudsburg on December 1 and then recorded her first career double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) in the loss to Gannon on December 5. She has now reached double figures in scoring in six of the ten games so far this season. She averaged 1.0 points 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 10.3 points per game, is fourth in rebounding at 5.2 boards per contest, and is third in assists per game (2.6).

UPCOMING SCHEDULE ...
The Huskies will be on the road for three consecutive contests beginning with a trip to Edinboro on Wednesday, January 6 in the final PSAC crossover game of the season. Bloomsburg will then travel to Kutztown on Saturday, January 9 and Millersville on Wednesday, January 13 before returning home on Saturday, January 16 when it hosts Lock Haven at Nelson Field House.