CHESTER, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University women's basketball team earned its first win of the 2017-18 season with a 73-47 win over Livingstone in the Carol Eckman Memorial Tournament at Widener University's Schwartz Athletic Center on Sunday (Nov. 12).
The Huskies led 20-7 after 10 minutes, and held the Blue Bears to single-digit scoring for the first two minutes of the second. Bloomsburg jumped out to a 5-0 lead, before Livingstone tied the game at five apiece. A layup from Emma Saxton (York, Pa./Central York) followed by a Taylor Sneidman (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) layup and an Alyssa Mack (Walnutport, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) three-pointer extended BU's lead to seven, before an Imani Payne layup got the Blue Bears back within two possessions with a little over four minutes left in the frame. Darcy Lee (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) then got in on the scoring off an assist from Taylor Montana (Berwick, Pa./Berwick), before the two connected later in the frame for a long ball from Lee to extend the lead to double digits. Mack polished off the first quarter with her second three-pointer of the frame.
Bloomsburg would hold Livingstone to single-digit scoring in the second quarter as well, out-scoring the Blue Bears 22-6 to take a 42-13 lead to the half. The game was within single digits for a matter of 17 seconds in the frame when the Huskies led 20-11. Bloomsburg went on a 12-0 run that spanned 4:46 of the quarter, started by a pair of free throws from Mack. The Huskies kept on pushing and extended their lead on back-to-back layups from Meghan Corridoni (Exeter, Pa./Holy Redeemer) and Leah Myers (York, Pa./Eastern York). Myers found Corridoni on the next possession for another layup and the Huskies saw their lead grow to 17. Corridoni scored again to extend the lead to 19, before Montana sunk a layup to give the Huskies a 21-point lead before the halfway point of the frame. The Huskies maintained a lead of at least 20 until the 4:29 mark, when Asia Green knocked down a pair of free throws. The Huskies went on a 10-0 run to end the half, with buckets from Megan Brandt (Lebanon, Pa./Northern Lebanon), Lee, Marissa Molnar (Erie, Pa./McDowell) and Amanda Arellano (Mt. Carmel, Pa./Mt. Carmel).
The Huskies grew their lead to as many as 36 in the second half, out-scoring the Blue Bears 16-10 in the third and being out-scored 24-15 in the final frame.
As a team, Bloomsburg shot 44.8 percent from the floor, 33.3 percent from downtown and 16-27 from the charity stripe. For the second straight game, the Huskies held their opponents to shooting under 30 percent from the floor. BU won the battle on the boards 47-37, including 32-22 on the defensive end. Every Husky on the roster scored in the win. Mack and Lee led the Huskies in scoring with 12 each, while Molnar added nine and Montana chipped in eight. Corridoni contributed six, while Sneidman scored five. Three Huskies scored four-apiece (Arellano, Brandt and Lauren Oeth (Doylestown, Pa./Germantown Academy)), while Marianna Maldonado (Stroudsburg, Pa./Pocono Mountain East) scored three. Saxton and Payton Spadaccino (Ivyland, Pa./Council Rock South) also got on the scoresheet with two. On the glass, Brandt pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Spadaccino had the hot hand in the contest, dishing out a team-high four assists. Saxton and Myers each also tallied three assists in the win.
The Huskies (1-1) continue their non-conference slate on Wednesday (Nov. 15) when they travel to the University of the Sciences. Tip-off is slated for 6:00 p.m.
