EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – Junior Megan Brandt (Lebanon, Pa./Northern Lebanon) was just a point-shy of her career high with 22 but the Bloomsburg University women's basketball team dropped a defensive battle to East Stroudsburg, 62-57, Wednesday night. The Huskies fell to 6-6 on the year and 3-5 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) while the Warriors improved to 10-4 on the year and 6-2 in conference play.
 
Brandt led all players with 22 points behind an 8-for-14 day shooting from the field and going 6-for-7 from the free throw line. Brandt added a team-best and season-high eight rebounds. Senior Bella Ricci (Etters, Pa./Red Land) posted her second-highest point total of the season with 16 as she went 6-for-7 from the field and 3-for-4 from the charity stripe.
 
As a team, the Huskies shot 43.5% from the floor (20-for-46) and were 15-for-19 from the free throw line (78.9%), their third-best free throwing shooting percentage of the season. East Stroudsburg held a slight 31-27 advantage in rebounding and turnovers, 21-24. The Warriors converted the Huskies' 24 turnovers into 13 points while Bloomsburg converted the Warriors' 21 turnovers into 12 points.
 
East Stroudsburg shot 40.8% (20-for-49) from the floor for the day and was 19-for-21 (90.5%) from the free throw line.
 
In the first six minutes of the game, the lead changed hands six times and was tied four times before Bloomsburg took a one-point lead 12-11 with 4:17 to play. Ricci drove to the basket for the layup and the Husky lead. Ricci's layup kicked off an 8-0 run to close out the quarter for the Huskies as they led 18-11 after the first 10 minutes. Freshman Emma Gochnauer (Strasburg, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) capped the run with a layup with less than a minute to play in the quarter.
 
The two teams traded buckets in the first minute of action before the Huskies pushed their lead to nine, 25-16, with 6:26 to play in the second quarter. The Warriors cut it back to seven, 25-18, but Ricci hit a jumper at the 5:19 mark to extend the lead back to nine. 27-18. The nine-point advantage proved to be the largest lead by either team for the rest of the game.

Bloomsburg maintained its advantage for the rest of the quarter, but the Warriors were able to trim the deficit to two, 32-30, with 1:02 to play before halftime. Brandt hit a layup and freshman McKenna Hayward (Ebensburg, Pa./Central Cambria) made a pair of free throws to push the Bloomsburg lead back to six, 36-30, with 30 seconds left. The Huskies carried the advantage into halftime after Kaitlin Swint blocked Hayward's shot at the buzzer.
 
The Warriors come out in the third quarter and used an 8-2 run over the first 2:47 to tie the game for the first time since early in the first quarter, 38-38. East Stroudsburg took its first lead since the first with a layup from Swint with 6:15 to play in the third. The Warriors maintain their lead for the next four minutes of action until Ricci drained a long three to tie it, 44-44, with 2:05 to play. A good free throw by Sadie Cresswell gave the lead back to East Stroudsburg but a pair of free throws from Brandt with 51 seconds left in the quarter gave Bloomsburg its final lead of the period. A layup and free throw by Swint swung the lead back to ESU, 48-46 with 36 seconds on the clock. Brandt tied the game at 48-48 just 10 seconds later but Swint drew another foul and was once again perfect from the free throw line to give East Stroudsburg a 50-48 lead going into the fourth quarter.
 
Ricci tied the game 46 seconds into the final quarter but the Huskies couldn't grab the lead again until the 5:52 mark when Brandt completed the old-fashion three-point play. The score was stuck at 55-54 in favor of Bloomsburg for the next 4:47 of game time before Tiffany Laptosky ended the scoring drought with a layup with 1:05 to play. ESU and Bloomsburg traded the lead three more times until the Warriors took the lead for good, 58-57 with 36 seconds left. East Stroudsburg completed two more trips to the line in the final 23 seconds to seal the 62-57 win.