Women's Basketball | 1/8/2016 3:02:00 PM
BLOOMSBURG (8-5, 5-4 PSAC East) at KUTZTOWN (6-7, 4-6 PSAC East)
Saturday, January 9, 2016 - 1:00 p.m.
Kutztown, Pa. | Keystone Arena
GAME NOTES:Bloomsburg at Kutztown Game NotesGAME COVERAGE:Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/kutztown/wbball/Live Audio (WHLM-AM): http://www.whlmam.comLive Video: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ku-liveRELATED LINKS:Bloomsburg -
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StatisticsKutztown - Roster |
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StatisticsLAST TIME OUT ...Bloomsburg followed what was, perhaps, its best outing of the season (an 81-65 win over Slippery Rock on Sunday, January 3) with, arguably, its worst outing of the season on Wednesday - an 84-58 loss at Edinboro in the final PSAC crossover game of the season. Bloomsburg had one lead in the game, 6-4, with 7:37 left in the first quarter before Edinboro rattled off the next 16 points over the span of six minutes and never looked back. The Huskies shot a season-low 30.2% from the field and lost by more than 20 points for the first time since November 20, 2011 - a 98-73 loss against Edinboro.
Mia Hopkins (Pittston/Pittston Area) had her lowest all-around outing of the season, finishing with a team-high 13 points, but had a season-low three rebounds and one assist.
Kristie Costantino (Norristown/Archbishop John Carroll) scored a career-high 12 points in 21 minutes off the bench.
Alyssa Mack (Walnutport/Allentown Central Catholic) and
Morgan Klunk (Felton/York Catholic) added eight points apiece.
DID YOU KNOW ...Bloomsburg's loss at Edinboro on Wednesday was the first loss by a Huskies' team in the month of January since a 65-59 loss to West Chester on January 26, 2013. Since that loss, Bloomsburg had rattled off 21 straight victories in January prior to Wednesday.
THE KUTZTOWN SERIES ...Bloomsburg leads the all-time series against Kuztown, 66-23, and has really taken control of the series in recent history. The Huskies have won the last 13 meetings between the two schools and have not lost to the Golden Bears since March 2, 2010 when Kutztown handed them a 74-67 overtime loss in the PSAC Quarterfinals in Kutztown. Last season, Bloomsburg defeated Kutztown three times, including a 64-54 victory in the PSAC Quarterfinals at Nelson Field House.
LAST MEETING AGAINST KUTZTOWN ...Bloomsburg hosted Kutztown in the PSAC Quarterfinals on March 3, 2015 with the Huskies escaping with a 64-54 victory over the pesky Golden Bears. Bloomsburg seemingly had things well in hand after building a 40-25 lead with 17:28 left in regulation. But, Kutztown scored the next 20 points in the contest to take a 45-40 advantage with 9:58 remaining. Bloomsburg's
Taylor Maldonado (Stroudsburg/Allentown Central Catholic) hit back-to-back threes to stop the bleeding and a triple by
Jocelyn Ford (Lansing, NY/Lansing) with 4:40 left gave the Huskies the lead for good. Ford finished with a team-high 18 points while Maldonado added 17 in the victory.
Marla Simmons (Lebanon/Cedar Crest),
Adreana Sadowski (Fleetwood/Brandywine Heights), and
Erica Maciejewski (Red Lion/Red Lion) chipped in with eight points apiece. Elisa Gaffney led Kutztown with 16 points while current Bloomsburg assistant coach, Advia Campbell, added 14 in the loss.
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SCOUTING KUTZTOWN ...Kutztown enters the contest with a 6-7 overall record and a 4-6 mark in the PSAC Eastern Division. The Golden Bears, similar to Bloomsburg, have lost four of their last six contests after getting off to a strong start. Kutztown, most recently, suffered a 71-66 loss at Clarion on Wednesday night, January 6. Kelsey Watson paced the Golden Bears with 22 points while Natalya Lee added 15 in the setback. Watson ranks third in the PSAC in scoring, averaging 17.2 points per game on the season. She also leads the Golden Bears in rebounding, averaging 8.2 boards per contest. Lee is also having a solid season for Kutztown, adding 14.9 points per game and a team-high 4.8 assists per contest. Jenna Altomare is right behind Lee, chipping in 14.8 points per game. Altomare is the main threat from long distance as she has hit 42 of the team's 70 three-pointers on the season. The Golden Bears are averaging 71.3 points per game on offense and are allowing 66.8 points per game on defense. Like Bloomsburg, Kutztown has struggled rebounding the ball as it has been outrebounded by an average of 2.8 boards per game. However, Kutztown is second in the PSAC in turnover margin (+4.3) and is tied for second in fewest turnovers per game (13.8). The Golden Bears are first in the PSAC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.25.
MACK EARNS THIRD PSAC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK HONOR ...Freshman
Alyssa Mack (Walnutport/Allentown Central Catholic) averaged 11.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 1.0 steals in helping the Huskies to a 1-1 record last week and earning her third PSAC East Freshman of the Week accolade this season. After scoring just three points in 16 minutes during last Wednesday's (12/30) 76-72 home loss to Philadelphia University, Mack earned a start and poured in a career-high 20 points to lead all scorers during Sunday's (1/3) 81-65 conference victory over Slippery Rock. Mack went 7-of-10 from the field, 3-of-5 from long distance, and 3-of-4 from the foul line en route to the biggest scoring output of her young career. Her previous high was 11 she set on two separate occasions – at California (PA) on November 22 and at home against Gannon on December 5.
SHOOTING STRUGGLES A SURPRISE ...Bloomsburg entered Wednesday's game at Edinboro tied for second in the PSAC, and 22nd in the country, by shooting at a 45.3% clip on the season. That figure, however, dropped drastically against the Fighting Scots as the Huskies managed to make just 19 of their 63 shot attempts on the night (30.2%). It was just the third time this season that Bloomsburg shot worse than 40% from the field and the Huskies had shot no worse than 36.5% in any one game prior to Wednesday's loss. Even with the subpar performance, the Huskies are still third in the PSAC with a 44.1% shooting percentage.
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 3.8 boards per game - tied for 15th in the PSAC. The Huskies average 36.9 rebounds per game - 16th in the conference. Over the last eight games, the Huskies have been outrebounded six times and by a total of 69 boards - an average of 8.6 rebounds per contest. In four of the six games, Bloomsburg has been outrebounded by at least 10, including Wednesday's loss at Edinboro. Meanwhile, over the first five games, Bloomsburg was not outrebounded once and averaged 4.0 more rebounds per game than its opponent.
TOO MANY SECOND CHANCES ...The Huskies allowed 12 offensive rebounds to Edinboro on Wednesday and now have allowed 202 offensive rebounds to its opponents' during the season. That figure equates to an average of 15.5 offensive rebounds per game that the Huskies are allowing, which have led to 154 points (11.8 per game). In comparison, the Huskies have 137 offensive boards (10.5) in 13 games, which have led to 119 second-chance points (9.2 ppg).
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 (fifth), double-doubles (tied for first), blocks per game (tied for tenth), and steals per game (first). She is also ninth in the PSAC in free throw percentage (82.2%) and tenth in the league in field goal percentage (49.4%).
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 (13.6 ppg), second on the team in rebounding (6.3 rpg), and tops in blocked shots (2.0 bpg). She leads the PSAC in field goal percentage at 62.1%, which is the fifth best mark in the country (not including Wednesday's results). She also leads the conference in blocks per game at 2.0. After scoring a season-high 24 points in the win over Mansfield on December 19, then scoring 19 more against Philadelphia on December 30, and posting 18 against Slippery Rock on Sunday, Sadowski now needs 49 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. The redshirt senior is also closing in on 500 career rebounds as she is 19 shy of reaching that milestone. Sadowski now also has 147 career blocks in a Husky uniform - third on the program's all-time list.
NEW LOOK LINEUP ...Bloomsburg head coach
Bill Cleary decided to switch up the starting lineup against Slippery Rock on Sunday, Janaury 3, after a lackluster performance against Philadelphia University on Wednesday, December 30. The Huskies started five freshmen -
Julia Gantz (Havertown/Archbishop John Carroll),
Alyssa Mack (Walnutport/Allentown Central Catholic),
Marissa Molnar (Erie/McDowell High School),
Taylor Sneidman (Mechanicsburg/Cumberland Valley), and
Casey Warley (West Chester/Bayard Rustin) with all but Gantz and Mack making their first collegiate starts. The move paid off as Mack (20 points), Warley (eight points), and Sneidman (two points) each posting new career highs.
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 had a sizeable edge in that category, 38-9. Over 13 games, the Huskies are averaging 18.4 turnovers per game which have led to an average of 18.1 points off of turnovers for their opponents.
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.
DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK ...Bloomsburg earned a season-opening 76-72 victory at New Haven on November 13. The Huskies trailed, however, for a majority of the contest, falling behind by as many as 18 points with 9:01 left in the second quarter and still trailed by double digits with 2:38 left in the third quarter before mounting a comeback. The Huskies outscored the Chargers, 27-16, in the fourth quarter to come away with the win. Then, at Seton Hill on November 21, the Huskies trailed 71-58 with 6:56 left in regulation. Bloomsburg, however, scored the next 20 points over the next 6:30 to take a seven-point lead. The Huskies held on from there, 82-79, to post a win in its PSAC opener.
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 then recorded her first career double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) in the loss to Gannon on December 5. She averaged 1.0 point 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 9.4 points per game, is tied for third in rebounding at 4.8 boards per contest, and is third in assists per game (2.4).
UPCOMING SCHEDULE ...Bloomsburg will close out its three-game road swing with a trip to Millersville on Wednesday, January 13 before returning home on Saturday, January 16 when it hosts Lock Haven at Nelson Field House. Tip-off on Wednesday is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. while Saturday's home start is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
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