BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University women's basketball team faced its second ranked team in a week and the Huskies were up to the challenge as they knocked off #24 Kutztown University, 62-52, Wednesday evening. The Huskies improved to 10-7 for the year and 8-3 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play while the Golden Bears dropped to 15-4 and 8-2 in the PSAC.
 
With 1:28 to play in the third quarter, Casey Remolde hit a pair of free throws for Kutztown to tie the game at 36-36. The free throws capped off a 15-4 run but the Golden Bears that took eight and a half minutes of play in the quarter. Nya Johnson (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) was fouled on the Huskies ensuing possession and hit her first two free throws of the season to give the lead back for good to Bloomsburg, 38-36 with 1:02 to play. Emma Gochnauer (Strasburg, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) caused a turnover on the next KU possession and Meghan Corridoni (Exeter, Pa./Holy Redeemer) drained a three in the final 21 seconds to give Bloomsburg a 41-36 lead heading into the final quarter.
 
Gochnauer opened the fourth with a pair of free throws to push Bloomsburg's lead to seven, 43-36 just 29 seconds into the period. Kutztown got the lead back down to one, 43-42, with 6:24 to play. After a defensive rebound by Corridoni got the ball back to the Huskies, Allison Hileman (Hollidaysburg, PA/Hollidaysburg) hit her fourth three of the game to push the Huskies' lead back to four, 46-42, with 4:35 to play. A good defensive effort and stop on the other end of the court led to Ella Kale's (Spring Grove, PA/Spring Grove) driving layup just under a minute later to give Bloomsburg a six-point advantage, 48-42, with 3:38 to go in regulation.
 
A pair of free throws by Zara Zerman made it a five-point game once against, 54-49, with 1:25 to play and the Golden Bears were forced to foul to preserve the clock. The fouling paid off in Bloomsburg's favor as the Huskies made six of their eight final free throws in the last minute and a half. Gochnauer sealed the victory for Bloomsburg with three free throws in the final 27 seconds to give Bloomsburg a 62-52 win.
 
The two teams went back and forth in the first quarter and set up a defensive battle as Bloomsburg led by just one, 13-12, after the first 10 minutes of play. Kutztown scored the first basket of the second, a three by Annie Whalen to take a 15-13 lead. Emma Saxton (York, Pa./Central York) tied the game at 15-15 with a jumper at the 8:31 mark before Hileman gave BU the lead with her first three at the 7:27 mark, 18-15.

Hileman's three kicked off a 14-6 run to close out the quarter for Bloomsburg as the Huskies took a 32-21 lead into halftime.
 
Bloomsburg took a 14-point lead early into the third quarter, 35-21, but Kutztown worked its way back before the Huskies out-scored Kutztown 21-16 for the period and put the game out of reach.
 
Corridoni led the team with 17 points and 11 rebounds while Hileman chipped in 12 points behind a 4-for-8 day from beyond the arc. Saxton finished the day with seven points and eight assists.
 
As a team, the Huskies shot 37.7% from the field and were 8-of-19 from beyond the arc. Bloomsburg shot 73.7% (14-for-19) from the free throw line.
 
The Huskies got 26 points off of the bench and 19 points off of turnovers.
 
Rylee Derr led the Golden Bears with 15 points while Casey Remolde snagged a game-high 13 rebounds.
 
As a team, the Golden Bears shot 37.3% (19-for-51) from the floor and were 10-for-11 for the game from the charity stripe.
 
The Huskies return to action on Saturday as they host West Chester in a 1:00 PM PSAC contest.