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EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – Leading by five after three quarters, the Bloomsburg University women's basketball team was outscored, 23-13, in the fourth and suffered a 71-66 loss at East Stroudsburg on Saturday afternoon. The Huskies had their three-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 12-7 overall and 9-6 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division. The Warriors improved to 10-9 overall and 8-7 in league play.
 
Bloomsburg had won 14 straight meetings between the two schools prior to Saturday afternoon. The Warriors' last victory over the Huskies was back on February 11, 2009 – a 70-58 win at the Nelson Field House. It was also just the Huskies' second loss of the season (9-2) when leading after three quarters.
 
Junior Mia Hopkins (Pittston/Pittston Area) recorded her tenth double-double of the season with a game-high 21 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Junior Alex Ross (Lancaster/Manheim Township) chipped in with 15 points while junior Morgan Klunk (Felton/York Catholic) added 14 in a losing effort.
 
After scoring a school-record 43 points on Wednesday, redshirt senior Adreana Sadowski (Fleetwood/Brandywine Heights) was plagued with foul trouble for much of the game and managed to score only three points with all three coming from the free throw line.
 
Bloomsburg got off to a slow start and trailed 18-13 after the opening quarter. The score could have been worse, but Klunk nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the lead to five after ten minutes of action. Klunk finished with five points in the quarter while Ross added four.
 
The Huskies fell behind by nine, 26-17, with 5:46 left in the second – East Stroudsburg's biggest lead of the contest. But, Bloomsburg scored the next 11 points to take a 28-26 advantage with 3:19 left after Hopkins hit a pair of free throws. Freshman Alyssa Mack (Walnutport/Allentown Central Catholic) provided the spark off the bench with back-to-back three-pointers to cut into the Warrior lead.
 
The teams exchanged baskets the rest of the way and found themselves tied at 34-34 at intermission.
 
Freshman Julia Gantz (Havertown/Archbishop John Carroll) started the third quarter scoring with a jumper just 19 seconds in to give the Huskies a 36-34 lead. Bloomsburg never trailed in the third quarter and built up its biggest lead of the game, 49-40, with a 9-0 run that snapped a 40-40 tie. Hopkins had four points while Klunk added three during the spurt.
 
East Stroudsburg managed to finish the quarter on a mini 8-4 run to cut the Huskies' lead to five, 53-48, heading to the fourth quarter.
 
After Ross scored the first points of the quarter with a jumper, the Warriors went on a 9-0 run to take a 57-55 advantage with 6:16 left in regulation. Ross ended the run with her first three-pointer of the game with 4:46 left to give the Huskies a one-point lead, 58-57.
 
The teams went back-and-forth until Hopkins gave the Huskies a 64-62 edge with 1:01 remaining. However, the turning point of the game came just seconds later when Imani Brown converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Warriors a one-point lead, 65-64, with 50 seconds left. Allison Howard and Melissa Poderis hit four free throws for East Stroudsburg, sandwiched around a layup from Hopkins, as the Warriors held a 69-66 lead with 20 seconds left.
 
Junior Kristie Costantino (Norristown/Archbishop John Carroll) had a good look at a game-tying three-pointer just seconds later, but it bounced off the front of the rim and the Warriors converted two more free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
 
Brown led the Warriors with 17 points and 11 rebounds while Rebecca Rutkowski added 16 points and eight boards in the win. East Stroudsburg held a 46-37 advantage in rebounding and forced the Huskies into 24 turnovers – ten by Hopkins.
 
Bloomsburg will look to get back into the win column on Wednesday, February 3, when it entertains West Chester at the Nelson Field House. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.