LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – With less than a minute to play, Lock Haven cut the Bloomsburg University women's basketball team's lead to two, 52-50, but the Huskies defense was up to the task and held off the Bald Eagles for a 53-50 win to begin 2022. With the win, the Huskies improved to 5-7 for the year and 3-3 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) contests, while the Bald Eagles fell to 5-5 and 2-4 in conference games.
 
With 57 seconds left, Brooke Lawyer drew a foul and went to the free-throw line as Lock Haven trailed 52-48. After she hit both free throws to cut the lead to two, the Huskies got the ball though a turnover gave it back to Lock Haven with 27 to play. Katelin Starr (Berwick, PA/Berwick) forced a turnover on the next possession, and Lauren Kirsch (Palmyra, PA/Lower Dauphin) drew a foul with nine seconds to play. She hit the front end of her trip to the line to push the Huskies' lead to three, 53-50. Lock Haven grabbed the defensive board on the next free throw, but the BU defense wouldn't allow the Bald Eagles to get a good look on an outside shot. Lock Haven was forced to go inside, and Megan Fisher (New Holland, Pa./Garden Spot) pulled down the rebound off a last-second layup to seal the 53-50 win for Bloomsburg.
 
The Huskies led by as many as 11 in the fourth, 52-41, with just over five minutes to play. Emma Saxton (York, Pa./Central York) grabbed an offensive rebound and finished the layup under the basket at the 5:18 mark to give the Huskies the 11-point advantage.
 
Lock Haven held its only lead of the game in the first quarter as the Bald Eagles got out to a 6-2 advantage in the first 2:07 of action, but Bloomsburg closed out the opening quarter on a 13-0 run to take a 15-6 lead at the first intermission and never trailed for the rest of the contest.
 
Bloomsburg had its largest lead midway through the second period as Samantha Brusha (Abington, PA/Abington) hit a jumper with 4:23 to play to give the Huskies a 28-14 lead. The Bald Eagles eventually cut it to seven, 28-21, with 1:12 to play, but Saxton closed out the half with a jumper to give Bloomsburg a 30-21 advantage at the break.
 
Starr led the Huskies with 11 points and eight rebounds, while Saxton and Emma Gochnauer (Strasburg, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) put up nine points. Ella Kale (Spring Grove, PA/Spring Grove) dished out a team-high five assists to go with her five points, and Fisher ended the day with eight points, six rebounds, and a team-best five steals.
 
As a team, the Huskies shot 33.8% from the field (23-for-68) and were 3-for-21 from beyond the arc. Bloomsburg finished the day 4-for-8 from the free-throw line.
 
Jaynelle Robinson led the Bald Eagles with 19 points and 14 rebounds and had three blocks for the contest. The Bald Eagles shot 32.1% (17-for-53) from the floor and were just 1-for-9 from the three-point range. Lock Haven finished the day 15-for-24 from the free-throw line.
 
The Huskies forced 13 of the Bald Eagles' 21 turnovers and scored 16 points off of turnovers.
 
Bloomsburg will be back in action on Saturday as they welcome Mansfield University to Nelson Field House for a 3:00 pm PSAC East showdown.