CALIFORNIA, Pa. – The women's basketball team fell to California (Pa.) 56-48 during a conference game on the road Sunday afternoon.
 
The Huskies (2-5, 0-3 PSAC) fell behind early and trailed by 13 at the half, and despite outscoring the Vulcans (5-4, 1-2 PSAC) in both the third and fourth quarters, the first-half deficit was too much to overcome.
 
California (Pa.) started the third quarter off on a quick 4-0 scoring run to stretch its lead to 17, but Bloomsburg's sharp shooting in the second half allowed them to cut the deficit to 10 points once in the third quarter and once in the fourth quarter. The shortest deficit the Huskies faced was eight, which was in the closing seconds of the game when Katie Starr (Berwick, PA/Berwick) made the final basket of the contest.
 
The Huskies were limited to 15 points in the first half and shot just 23.3% from the field, but the team was able to double their point total in the final half by scoring 33 points and shooting 65% in the third and fourth quarters.
 
Bloomsburg's second-half effort was fueled by Megan Fisher (New Holland, Pa./Garden Spot), who scored 13 of her team-leading 15 points in the second half. Starr was the only other Husky to finish in double figures, recording 11 points to go along with one block, one steal, one assist and five rebounds.
 
Emma Gochnauer (Strasburg, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) led the team in rebounds with eight to go along with six points. Abby Brown (Phillipsburg, N.J./Bethlehem Catholic) and Allison Hileman (Hollidaysburg, PA/Hollidaysburg) each finished with five points.
 
Bloomsburg was able to outrebound California (Pa.) by a total of 40-34. The Huskies also had more bench points than the Vulcans, winning that category 20-1.
 
A big difference in the game turned out to be points off turnovers. California (Pa.) scored 26 points off turnovers and forced Bloomsburg to turn the ball over 25 times throughout the game.
 
Bloomsburg's defensive play was also solid and limited California (Pa.) to a 36.1% field goal percentage for the game, but the Huskies did not force as many turnovers that led to easy scores in transition.
 
The Huskies will have a quick turnaround as they stay out in the western part of the state for another road conference game on Monday at Slippery Rock (7-2, 2-1 PSAC). The game is scheduled to tip off at 1:00 PM and the contest will be followed by the men's game at 3:00 PM.