CHESTER, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University women's basketball team dropped their season opener in close fashion to Glenville State 73-69 in their first game of the Carol Eckman Memorial Tournament on Saturday (Nov. 11) at Widener University's Schwartz Athletic Center.
The Pioneers flirted with a double-digit lead for most of the first quarter, holding Bloomsburg to single digits until the 7:30 mark of the first quarter. Glenville State took a 25-13 lead to the second.
Taylor Montana (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) had a team-high five points in the opening frame.
The Huskies played a much better second quarter, out-scoring the Pioneers 24-11. Despite Glenville State leading by as many as 12 in the frame, the Huskies kept battling. A layup from
Meghan Corridoni (Exeter, Pa./Holy Redeemer) got the deficit to within nine, before
Emma Saxton (York, Pa./Central York) scored two to get the game to within seven with four minutes to play in the half. After a split pair of free throws from Paris McLeod with 3:39 left,
Alyssa Mack (Walnutport, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) knocked down a three-pointer to cut the Pioneers' lead to within five. With two and a half minutes left, The Pioneers regained their seven-point leadon separate free throws from Erika Toney and Courtney Davis, and held it down until 1:30 was left in the half.
Megan Brandt (Lebanon, Pa./Northern Lebanon) and Corridoni scored buckets on back-to-back possessions got the game to within three. With 30 seconds left in the half,
Darcy Lee (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) knocked down a jumper that got the Huskies within one. The Huskies took the lead to the break on a Corridoni layup assisted by Saxton with five seconds. Bloomsburg led 37-36 at the half.
The two teams played a back-and-forth third quarter, with Glenville State taking a 58-54 advantage to the final 10 minutes. Bloomsburg led only by as many as two in the frame, and also battled through as much as an eight-point deficit. With under four minutes to play in the quarter, Toney made layups on two straight possessions to get the lead to five before a bucket from Bhrea Griffin got the lead up to seven. Brandt scored a layup at the two-minute mark to cut the lead to five, before a split pair of free throws from Saxton with 1:20 left cut the deficit to four. The lead went back up to eight for the Pioneers on a pair of free throws from Davis combined with two more points from Toney. Mack scored the final two points of the quarter on a pair of free throws.
The fourth quarter played out very similarly to the third, with Bloomsburg hanging around just enough to keep it within three possessions. The highest deficit in the frame was eight. After a split pair of free throws from Griffin, the Pioneers led by five. Just over two minutes into the quarter, Corridoni hit a huge three-pointer off another Saxton assist that got the game to within two. An offensive put-back from Davis put Glenville State back up by four, and it stayed that way for a matter of minutes. With just over four minutes remaining, Montana scored a bucket off an assist from Mack to make it 61-59. From there, McLeod took control for the next two possessions, scoring a layup and a long ball to get her team's lead back up to seven. The Huskies cut into the deficit quickly when Mack found Montana again with just over three minutes remaining. The following possession, Maya Horne knocked down a huge three-pointer to give Glenville State an eight-point lead.
Marissa Molnar (Erie, Pa./McDowell) got the game back to within six on the following possession. Molnar would come up big with two minutes and change left on a big three-pointer to get Bloomsburg back within one possession. The Huskies resorted to fouling to preserve time, and McLeod was able to ice the game from the stripe.
Four Huskies scored in double-figures, led by Mack's 14 and Corridoni's 13. Montana and Saxton each poured in 11. The Huskies hit five three-pointers, and hauled in 50 rebounds. Bloomsburg shot 46.0 percent from the field, 31.3 percent from downtown and 46.2 percent from the stripe. Bloomsburg held Glenville State to 28.2 percent shooting from the floor, and also won the battle on the defensive glass 40-26. Individually, Corridoni pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
The Huskies continue play in the Carol Eckman Memorial Tournament tomorrow (Sunday, Nov. 12) when they take on Livingstone College at 1:00 p.m.
