BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University women's basketball team wrapped up the regular season on Wednesday evening with a 64-53 win over Kutztown as the Huskies get ready for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) tournament. With the win, the Huskies improved to 13-13 on the year and 10-12 in conference action while the Golden Bears dropped to 17-10 for the season and are 14-7 in league games heading into their final PSAC contest on Saturday.
 
The Huskies were led by junior Emma Saxton (York, Pa./Central York) for the fifth time in the last six games as she posted 18 points and handed out a game-best five assists. Redshirt junior Meghan Corridoni (Exeter, Pa./Holy Redeemer) added 10 points and 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the year. Freshman McKenna Hayward (Ebensburg, Pa./Central Cambria) chipped 12 points for the Huskies with a steal and an assist.
 
As a team, the Huskies shot 41.2% from the field (21-of-51) and were 2-of-9 from three-point range. The Huskies shot 76.9% (20-of-26) from the foul line and out-rebounded the Golden Bears 38-37. Bloomsburg capitalized on Kutztown's mistakes as the Huskies turned the Golden Bears' 18 turnovers into 21 points while Kutztown scored just eight points on Bloomsburg's 16 turnovers.
 
After a rather slow start offensively for both teams, Kutztown took its largest lead of the game, 7-5, with 2:36 to play in the first quarter. Senior Taylor Montana (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) tied the game at 7-7 at the 2:10 mark with a pair of free throws and Saxton gave the Huskies the lead for good with a couple of free throws on Bloomsburg's next possession. Saxton made the first of two foul shots at the 56 second mark to push the Husky lead to 10-7 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Bloomsburg's offense started clicking to start the second quarter as a Husky 15-7 run in the first five minutes gave Bloomsburg its first double-double lead, 25-14 at the 5:17 mark. A jumper from Kutztown's Annie Whalen cut the deficit back to nine, 25-16, but four-straight points from Hayward extended the lead to 13, 29-16, at the 4:11 mark. Rylee Derr briefly halted the Bloomsburg run with a three with 2:36 to play but another four points from Hayward gave Bloomsburg a 14-point lead, 33-19, with just 2:01 to play in the quarter. Whalen was once again able to stop the run, this time with a jumper, but Saxton pushed the Huskies' lead to 14 at the half with a jumper in the paint at the 27 second mark. Bloomsburg led 35-21 at the break.
 
The Huskies maintained their double-digit lead for the first half of the third quarter until a 5-0 Kutztown run over a minute of game play cut the deficit down to eight, 39-31, at the 4:53 mark. A three by Hayward pushed the lead back to 11, 42-31, and the two teams traded buckets as Kutztown narrowed the gap to nine, 46-37, at the end of the third quarter.
 
The Golden Bear offense seemed to start clicking in the fourth and Kutztown cut the deficit to seven, 52-45, with 5:11 to play. Junior Megan Brandt (Lebanon, Pa./Northern Lebanon) hit a jumper with 4:35 to play to push the lead back nine but a pair of free throws from Zoe Zerman got the Golden Bears back to within seven, 54-47, with just 3:38 to play. Brandt made a layup with 2:41 to go and Corridoni converted four-straight points to give Bloomsburg a 13-point lead, 60-47, with 1:15 left in regulation. The Golden Bears were then forced to foul the Huskies in hopes of getting quick possessions but Bloomsburg converted all four of its final free throws to seal the win. Presley Berryhill made a layup at the end to bring the score to its final, 64-53, in favor of Bloomsburg.
 
While the win for Bloomsburg did not improve the Huskies' seeding, it had other implications on the final seeding for the PSAC tournament. Kutztown's lost coupled with Shippensburg's win over Shepherd gave the Raiders the top seed in the East. The No. 2, 3, 4 seeds are still yet to be determined and will rely on the outcome of Saturday's regular season finales. Kutztown hosts Shippensburg on Saturday while Shepherd hosts Mansfield and East Stroudsburg plays at West Chester. East Stroudsburg and Kutztown are tied for second with 14-7 records abut ESU holds the tie breaker over Kutztown. Shepherd is currently fourth with a 13-8 overall record.
 
Bloomsburg will travel to the No. 3 seed for the opening round game of the 2020 PSAC Tournament on Monday. Time and location will be determined following Saturday's games.