BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University women's basketball opened the 2019-20 regular season on Wednesday night and suffered a 61-51 home loss to 17th-ranked University of the Sciences at the Nelson Field House. The Devils, who went 30-3 last year, remained perfect on the young season as they improved to 3-0.

A slow start doomed the Huskies as they shot only 2-of-10 from the field in the opening quarter and fell behind by a 17-9 margin through the first ten minutes. Senior Taylor Montana (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) hit a short jumper two minutes into the quarter and freshman McKenna Hayward (Ebensburg, Pa./Central Cambria) knocked down a triple two minutes later to account for the only Huskies' field goals of the stanza. Hayward's three-pointer, which came on her first collegiate shot attempt, pulled Bloomsburg to within 7-6 before the Devils ended the quarter on a 10-3 run.

Neither team cracked the scoreboard in the second quarter until Hayward hit a pair of foul shots with 7:53 left in the half to cut the Devils' lead to 17-11. Bloomsburg got to within four - 19-15 - after a layup from senior Bella Ricci (Etters, Pa./Red Land) before USciences rattled off the next 11 points to take a 30-15 advantage with three minutes remaining in the half. The Devils' lead grew to 16 with 1:48 left before the Huskies scored eight of the final ten points of the half to cut the deficit to ten - 36-26 - as the teams head to their respective locker rooms.

Both teams scored 14 points in the third quarter as the USciences' lead remained ten - 50-40 - heading to the fourth quarter. The Devils' Brigit Coleman buried a triple to open the final period but the Huskies went on an 8-0 run to cut the margin to 53-48 with 1:56 left in regulation after a pair of foul shots from junior Payton Spadaccino (Ivyland, Pa./Council Rock South). But, the momentum slipped away on the Devils' next possession as Irisa Ye converted a three-point play to push the USciences' lead back up to eight, 56-48, with 1:39 left. The visitors got the advantage back up to 11 before Spadaccino scored the Huskies' final points of the night on a triple from the corner with 21 second left. Jordan Vitelli hit two free throws four seconds later to provide the final margin.

Ricci led the Huskies with a game-high 15 points with ten of those coming in the third quarter. Junior Emma Saxton (York, Pa./Central York) and Hayward scored eight points apiece while another freshman - Emma Gochnauer (Strasburg, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) - scored six points in 16 minutes off the bench. The Devils had four players reach double figures in scoring led by Ye's 14 points. USciences held a 31-28 edge in rebounding with nearly half (15) of the Devils' rebounds coming on the offensive glass. The visitors had 11 second-chance points to just two for the Huskies. Montana pulled down a game-high six rebounds to go along with five points.

Bloomsburg shot 18-of-45 (40.0%) from the field and was 5-of-16 (31.3%) from beyond the arc. However, the Huskies were just 10-of-17 (58.8%) from the foul line. USciences was 23-of-55 (41.8%) from the floor and 6-of-24 (25.0%) from long range but hit 9-of-10 (90.0%) from the charity stripe.

The Huskies will return to action on Wednesday, November 20, when they head to Chestnut Hill College for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.