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MANSFIELD, PA - Emma Saxton (York, Pa./Central York) scored a game-high 15 points as the Bloomsburg University women's basketball team defeated Mansfield 55-42 on the road Saturday afternoon. The Huskies have now won four straight, and six of their last seven contests. Bloomsburg maintained its lead in the PSAC East, improving to 8-3 in the conference, and 13-6 overall.

Saxton continued her torrid month of January with 15 points on 7-of-17 shooting from the floor, and four rebounds. The sophomore has now scored in double figures in her last 11 games, and is averaging a team-high 16.7 points per game over that span.

The Huskies were uncharacteristically slow out of the blocks Saturday, trading buckets with the Mountaineers for a 9-9 tie midway through the first quarter. Bloomsburg would build a 14-9 lead late in the period thanks to a layup from Saxton and a jumper from Alyssa Mack (Walnutport, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic), but baskets from Erin Gibbons and McKenzie Hatch would trim the Huskies lead to just one after the first.

Gibbons would can a three to give Mansfield a 16-14 lead early in the second, but Bloomsburg would rip off 10 consecutive points to build a 24-16 lead with 2:48 to play in the first half. Mack, the newest member of Bloomsburg's 1,000-point club, would punctuate the run with a jumper and a trey to force a Mountaineers timeout. In all, the Huskies would outscore Mansfield 16-7 in the quarter to take a 30-20 lead into the locker room.

An individual four-point spurt from Mia Leonard would trim the Bloomsburg lead to just seven with 4:18 left to play in the third period, but a 10-2 Huskies run to close out the quarter would give Bloomsburg a 45-30 lead after three. Saxton had four points during the stretch, while forwards Taylor Montana (Berwick, Pa./Berwick), Lauren Oeth (Doylestown, Pa./Germantown Academy), and Megan Brandt (Lebanon, Pa./Northern Lebanon) all tallied buckets for the Huskies.

A Bella Ricci (Etters, Pa./Red Land) three-pointer would inflate the Bloomsburg lead to as large as 21 early in the fourth quarter, but the Mountaineers would rally late, trimming the deficit to just 11 with :55 seconds remaining. The Mansfield comeback hopes would end there, however, as a Montana layup with :22 seconds remaining would lock up the victory for the Huskies.

Montana finished with 12 points, five rebounds, and two assists for Bloomsburg, while Mack added 10 points and a pair of three's. The Huskies shot just 37.1% from the field as a team, but limited the Mountaineers to just 33.3% shooting, and a 1-of-8 mark from three-point territory. Bloomsburg also forced 24 Mansfield turnovers, and won the rebuilding battle 39-33.

Leonard, who entered the game as the PSAC's best shot blocker, finished with eight blocks to go along with 12 points and eight rebounds. Gibbons and Paige Whitfield each scored 10 points in the loss.

The Huskies will continue a two-game road streak this Wednesday at Shippensburg, before returning home next Saturday, February 2, to host West Chester. Tip-off in Wednesday's matchup with the Raiders is set for 6:00 p.m.