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BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – Freshman Alyssa Mack (Walnutport/Allentown Central Catholic) poured in a career-high 20 points to lift the Bloomsburg University women's basketball team to an 81-65 victory over visiting Slippery Rock University on Sunday afternoon at Nelson Field House. The Huskies improved to 8-4 overall and 5-3 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division while The Rock dropped to 7-6 overall and 4-4 in the PSAC West.
 
Bloomsburg won its fifth consecutive contest against Slippery Rock and now leads the all-time series by a 15-12 margin.
 
Head coach Bill Cleary decided to switch up the starting lineup on Sunday as Bloomsburg started five freshmen against The Rock, three of whom were making their first collegiate starts. The move paid off as the Huskies never trailed in the contest. Mack and freshman Julia Gantz (Havertown/Archbishop John Carroll) made their sixth starts of the season while Marissa Molnar (Erie/McDowell High School), Casey Warley (West Chester/Bayard Rustin), and Taylor Sneidman (Mechanicsburg/Cumberland Valley) started for the first time in their careers.
 
Mack's previous career-high in scoring was 11 points at California (PA) on November 22 and against Gannon on December 5. It was her fourth double-digit scoring effort of the season. She finished by shooting 7-of-10 from the field, 3-of-5 from long distance, and 3-of-4 from the foul line. She became just the third different Husky to record at least 20 points in a game this season, joining junior Mia Hopkins (Pittston/Pittston Area) (five times) and redshirt senior Adreana Sadowski (Fleetwood/Brandywine Heights) (once).
 
The contest started slowly with a Mack foul shot the only point of the game through the opening 4:21. Mack, in fact, scored Bloomsburg's first six points of the game before Hopkins got into the scoring act with a layup with 3:23 left in the opening quarter. The Huskies led by seven, 14-7, with 1:19 left, but, Slippery Rock's Erica Aiello nailed a three-pointer to close out the opening ten minutes with Bloomsburg leading by a 14-10 score.
 
Slippery Rock cut the lead to 20-18 with 6:40 left in the first half after Audrey Stapleton knocked down a jumper. But, Molnar hit a three-pointer just seconds later to start a 22-11 run to close out the first half with the Huskies taking a 42-29 lead to the locker room.
 
Bloomsburg made 10 of its 12 field goal attempts in the second quarter as it outscored The Rock by a 28-19 margin to take a 13-point advantage.
 
The visitors cut the Bloomsburg lead to single digits at 47-38 with 7:00 left in the third quarter. That, however, would mark the final time that The Rock would be within ten as the Huskies pulled away down the stretch to earn the 16-point victory.
 
Sadowski came off the bench to score 18 points on 8-of-11 from the field while Hopkins came off the bench for the first time in her Bloomsburg career but managed to score 17 points, grab eight rebounds, dish out six assists, and add three blocks and three steals in 26 minutes.
 
Warley added a career-high eight points in 14 minutes, going 3-of-5 from the field and 2-of-3 from long range.
 
Bloomsburg shot 50.8% from the field (30-of-59) and knocked down a season-high tying nine three-pointers in the victory. The Huskies had 23 assists – six each by Hopkins and junior Morgan Klunk (Felton/York Catholic) – and forced 24 Slippery Rock turnovers.
 
Stapleton led the visitors with 18 points while Lexi Carpenter (16) and Mallory Heinle (15) also finished in double figures for Slippery Rock.
 
Bloomsburg will head west for the team's final conference crossover game of the season on Wednesday, January 6 as the Huskies will travel to Edinboro's McComb Fieldhouse to battle the Fighting Scots. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m.