BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University women's basketball team used a dominant fourth-quarter pull away from East Stroudsburg and won their third-straight game. On Monday evening, the Huskies out-scored the Warriors 23-11 in that final period en route to a 58-42 win. With the win, the Huskies improved to 7-7 for the season and 5-3 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play, while the Warriors dropped to 1-10 and 0-8 in conference action.
 
Senior Emma Saxton (York, Pa./Central York) made the first shot of the fourth quarter to give the Huskies a six-point lead, 37-31, at the 8:48 mark. Rachel Weise answered with a layup of her own, but a Saxton free throw just over a minute later kicked off a 12-0 run for the Huskies to give the hosts a 16-point lead, 49-33, with 4:58 to play. Weise halted the run with a free throw on the Warriors' next possession, but Bloomsburg maintained its double-digit lead for the rest of the game. With 1:17 to play, Saxton finished off a driving layup in the paint to give the Huskies their largest lead of the game, 58-39. Bianca Giordano made a layup on the other end of the court with less than a minute to play, and Carley Adams hit the back end of a trip to the line to close out the scoring, a 58-42 win for Bloomsburg.
 
The Warriors opened the game on a 6-2 run to take their largest lead of the game, four points, with 4:47 to play in the opening period. Katelin Starr (Berwick, PA/Berwick) and Meghan Corridoni (Exeter, Pa./Holy Redeemer) combined for four points over the next two minutes to tie the game at 6-6, and Starr gave the Huskies the lead with 1:05 to play, 8-6. The Warriors tied the game with a pair of free throws from Katie Geisler at the 36-second mark, but Allison Hileman (Hollidaysburg, PA/Hollidaysburg) gave the Huskies a three-point lead, 11-8, at the end of the first quarter.
 
The Huskies and Warriors traded the lead twice in the second quarter before Bloomsburg took the lead for good for the first half at the 4:36 mark. Samantha Brusha (Abington, PA/Abington) dripped a three to give the Huskies an 18-15 lead. Saxton made a jumper with 1:32 to play to extend the lead to five, 22-17, though ESU ended the half on a 4-2 run. Bloomsburg went into the break with a 24-21 lead.
 
The Warriors carried the momentum from the end of the second into the third and went on a 6-2 run to take a 27-26 lead just four minutes into the action. After a Bloomsburg time out, Saxton drew a foul in the paint and hit both of her free throws to give Bloomsburg a 28-27 lead with 5:55 to play. Megan Fisher (New Holland, Pa./Garden Spot) extended the lead to two, 29-27, with a free throw at the 5:10 mark, but Cassie Ksiazek tied the game at 29-29 with 4:15 to play. Starr drained a jumper with 3:56 to play to give the Huskies the lead for good, 31-29. Another three from Brusha extended the advantage to five, 34-29, and Saxton gave Bloomsburg a six-point lead, 35-29, with 2:12 to play. After two minutes of scoreless action, Leah Pishock hit a jumper at the buzzer to cut the lead to four, 35-31, at the final break before the Huskies' dominant fourth quarter.
 
The Huskies shot 32.7% (17-for-52) for the game and were 6-of-16 (37.5%) from beyond the arc. Bloomsburg finished day 18-for-26 (69.2%) from the free-throw line.
 
Brusha led the way in scoring for the Huskies with 16 points as she went 5-for-8 from the floor, including 5-for-7 from three-point range. Saxton finished the day with a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double, and Starr posted 12 points and seven rebounds.
 
The Huskies got 33 points off the bench and converted the Warriors' 14 turnovers into 16 points.
 
The Huskies held the Warriors to a 30.8% day from the floor, 16-for-52. ESU was just 3-for-14 (21.4%) from beyond the arc and 7-for-12 from the free-throw line. Ksiazek led the Warriors with 10 points while Weise chipped in nine and four rebounds. Adams led ESU with five rebounds.
 
Bloomsburg returns to action on Wednesday when the Huskies travel to Shepherd University for a 5:30 pm PSAC East contest.