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KUTZTOWN, Pa. - Four players finished in double figures on Friday night as the Bloomsburg University women's basketball team opened the 2018-19 season with a 69-51 victory over Fayetteville State in the opening game of the Kutztown Conference Challenge at Kutztown University's Keystone Arena. The game was the season-opener for both schools and it was the first-ever meeting between the two programs on the hardwood.

Senior Alyssa Mack (Walnutport, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) led all scorers with 21 points as she picked up where she left off from her All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Second Team selection from a year ago. She also added a career-high seven assists, five rebounds, and a pair of steals in the victory. Her previous high in assists was six at Gannon on December 4, 2016. Junior Taylor Montana (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) added 16 points and seven rebounds while senior Marissa Molnar (Erie, Pa./McDowell) and sophomore Emma Saxton (York, Pa./Central York) had 14 and 10 points, respectively. The Huskies had eight total points from the rest of the team on Friday night.

Mack was 6-of-13 from the field, 3-of-6 from long range, and a perfect 6-of-6 from the line en route to her 21 points.

The Broncos jumped out to an 8-5 lead with 3:47 left in the opening quarter before the Huskies went on a 10-0 run to close out the first period with a 15-8 advantage. After a layup from Mack gave Bloomsburg a 10-8 lead with 3:08 left in the opening stanza, the Huskies never trailed from that point forward. Fayetteville State kept it close in the second quarter, narrowly outscoring Bloomsburg, 19-18, in the frame to trim the Huskies lead to 33-27 at the break. Mack had 10 of her points in the first half while Molnar added nine in the opening 20 minutes.

Bloomsburg pulled away in the second half, outscoring the Broncos 36-24 over the final 20 minutes for the final margin of victory. The 18-point margin of victory proved to be the Huskies' largest lead of the night.

The Huskies shot 25-of-61 (41.0%) from the field but had a strong night from beyond the arc as they hit 8-of-19 (42.1%) from deep. Molnar drilled four of the team's eight triples on the night while Mack added three. Junior Bella Ricci (Etters, Pa./Red Land) accounted for the other for her only basket of the night. Bloomsburg was 11-of-14 (78.6%) from the charity stripe.

Alyssa Thompson paced the Bobcats with 10 points and six rebounds. She was the only player in double figures. Fayetteville State shot 36.7% from the field but made only two three-pointers in 12 attempts (16.7%) and got to the line just six times on the night, making five.

Bloomsburg held a slim 38-36 edge on the glass with sophomore Darcy Lee (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) leading the Huskies with a game-high eight boards. The Huskies also had 20 assists on 25 baskets and turned the ball over only 14 times on the night while forcing the Bobcats into 18 miscues.

The Huskies will conclude the weekend tournament on Saturday afternoon with a contest against the Lions of Lincoln University. Tip-off is now scheduled for 3:00 p.m. from the Keystone Arena in Kutztown.

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