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LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University women's basketball team jumped out to a 16-4 lead at the end of the first quarter and then held on for a 62-54 victory at Lock Haven University on Wednesday evening. The Huskies, winners of four of their last five games, improved to 5-13 overall and 4-10 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division. The Bald Eagles, meanwhile, dropped to 7-11 overall and 4-10 in league play.

Freshman Taylor Montana (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) scored a career-high 19 points on 9-of-11 from the field. Her previous high was 14, accomplished on two different occasions. Freshman Meghan Corridoni (Exeter, Pa./Holy Redeemer) added ten points and eight rebounds while senior Alex Ross (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) also had ten points. Ross also led the team with four assists and two blocked shots.

The Huskies, who have struggled out of the gate in a majority of their games this season, did not have that problem on Wednesday. Bloomsburg scored the first nine points of the game - five from sophomore Taylor Sneidman (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) - and built up a 16-4 advantage at the end of the opening quarter. Ten of the Huskies' first-quarter points came in the paint and six came from Lock Haven turnovers.

The first quarter proved to be the difference in the game as the Bald Eagles could not recover.

Lock Haven's Emily James started the second quarter with a three-pointer to cut the Bloomsburg lead to 16-7. But, the Huskies went on a 9-1 run to balloon their advantage to 25-8 with 4:56 left in the first half. The Huskies spread the wealth on offense during the run - Montana had three points while Ross, Corridoni, and senior Morgan Klunk (Felton, Pa./York Catholic) had two points each.

The hosts, however, battled back as they closed out the half on an 11-4 run to cut Bloomsburg's lead to 29-19 as both teams headed to their locker rooms.

Lock Haven cut into Bloomsburg's lead even more at the outset of the third quarter. The Bald Eagles scored eight of the first twelve points of the frame to trim the Huskies' advantage to 33-27 with 7:53 left. But, Bloomsburg outscored Lock Haven, 12-4, the rest of the period to take a 45-31 lead to the fourth quarter. Montana had six of Bloomsburg's twelve points during the run.

Bloomsburg poured it on at the start of the fourth quarter as it built a 19-point lead, 51-32, with 8:11 left in regulation. Lock Haven, again, would not go quietly. After the Bald Eagles' Madison McHale knocked down a pair of free throws with 1:50 left to cap off a 15-2 run, Lock Haven found itself trailing by only six, 53-47. But, Sneidman nailed a huge three-pointer just 13 seconds later to build the Huskies' lead back up to nine, 56-47, with 1:37 remaining.

Lock Haven cut the lead to as few as five points, 57-52, with 47 seconds left but the Huskies were able to ice the game with five free throws down the stretch to hold off the comeback bid.

Klunk and Sneidman each finished with nine points for the Huskies, who finished 26-of-55 from the field (47.3%) and held a slim, 36-34, edge in rebounding over the Bald Eagles. Lock Haven shot just 31.5% from the floor (17-of-54) for the game - 26.1% (6-of-23) in the first half.

McHale led the Bald Eagles with 17 points. The NCAA's leading rebounder, Lysa Mealing, added a double-double with ten points and ten rebounds.

Bloomsburg will be back on the road on Saturday, January 28, when it heads to Cheyney University for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off. The Huskies will be looking to avenge a 59-48 setback against the Lady Wolves at the Nelson Field House back on January 3.