BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University women's basketball team used a 16-0 run over a nine-minute span in the second half to take control of a close game and then hung on for a 60-54 victory over the visiting Lakers of Mercyhurst University on Friday afternoon at the Nelson Field House. The Huskies extended their winning streak to four as they improved to 5-3 overall and 2-2 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division standings. The Lakers, meanwhile, fell to 3-7 overall and 3-1 in the PSAC West.

Mercyhurst caught fire at the outset of the second half as it erased an eight-point Bloomsburg lead at halftime and took a 39-36 advantage with 4:34 left in the third quarter after a pair of foul shots by Emily Shopene. Those would be the final points the Lakers would score until Julia Buchman converted a layup with 5:40 left in regulation. In the meantime, the Huskies rattled off 16 consecutive points that started with a jumper from senior Bella Ricci (Etters, Pa./Red Land) to cut the Laker lead to one, 39-38, with 4:01 left in the third. Junior Megan Brandt (Lebanon, Pa./Northern Lebanon) and redshirt junior Lauren Oeth (Doylestown, Pa./Germantown Academy) each went 1-of-2 at the foul line on the next two possessions and then Brandt connected on back-to-back layups to extend the lead to 44-39. Senior Taylor Montana (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) closed out the third quarter with a pair of foul shots as the Huskies took a 46-39 advantage into the fourth.

Bloomsburg scored the first six points of the fourth on a basket from redshirt junior Meghan Corridoni (Exeter, Pa./Holy Redeemer) and a pair of layups from Montana - the last of which gave the Huskies their largest lead of the day, 52-39, with 6:02 left in regulation. The Lakers would not go away as they went on an 8-0 run to trim the Huskies' advantage to 52-47 with 1:58 left. But, Bloomsburg responded with the next six points of the contest and settled for the six-point victory.

Montana led the Huskies with 15 points in just 18 minutes off the bench. She was 6-of-13 from the field and 3-of-3 from the foul line as she moved to within 58 points of reaching 1,000 for her collegiate career. Corridoni narrowly missed her second straight double-double as she finished with 14 points and nine boards on the afternoon. She also added two blocks and three steals in the victory. Ricci was the third Bloomsburg player in double digits, finishing with 12 points and five assists.

Bloomsburg led 16-14 after the opening quarter and then built up a 31-23 advantage at intermission as it held Mercyhurst to just nine points in the second quarter.

Amber Renz paced the Lakers with 15 points while Shopene chipped in with 14.

Bloomsburg shot better from the field with Mercyhurst holding a substantial in foul shooting and rebounding. The Huskies were 23-of-52 (44.2%) from the floor and 3-of-6 from deep while the Lakers were 18-of-50 (36.0%) from the field and 1-of-7 from beyond the arc. Bloomsburg, however, was just 11-of-20 (55.0%) from the foul line with Mercyhurst going 17-of-18 (94.4%) from the stripe. The Lakers out-rebounded the Huskies, 37-26, with 13 of their boards coming on the offensive end. Bloomsburg, however, did force Mercyhurst into 24 turnovers on the afternoon.

The Huskies will get right back to work on Saturday afternoon, December 21, when they host Gannon University for their final game of the 2019 portion of the regular season. Tip-off from the Nelson Field House is slated for 1:00 p.m.