Bloomsburg Athletics

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – The Bloomsburg women's basketball team lost its season-opening game at the Carol Eckman Memorial Tournament, 72-52, to Livingstone Saturday evening.

Katie Starr (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) carried much of the offensive workload for the Huskies (0-1), finishing the night with career highs in points (31), rebounds (15), and free throw makes (15) while tying a career-best with eight made field goals. Starr tied the single-game program records with 15 makes from the charity stripe, becoming the fourth player in team history to do so while being the first Husky to score 30 points in a game since 2019.

Ava Stevenson (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) provided a spark off the bench in her first career game for Bloomsburg, knocking down three attempts from behind the arc. Allison Hileman (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) and Ella Kale (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) served as the primary ball handlers on the night, each recording a team-best five. For Hileman, the total matches a career-high in the category.

The Huskies struggled to knock down shots all night, shooting 26.7 percent from the field and 15.4 percent from deep.

How It Happened: 
Both teams opened the night unable to settle into a rhythm, but the Blue Bears (1-0) found an early six-point lead at 8-2. Falling behind by as much as seven early on, Starr began to assert herself in the paint. The junior forward scored nine consecutive points for Bloomsburg as Livingstone remained in front. 

Maddie LaFrance (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) knocked down a mid-range jumper to cut the deficit to four as Starr scored another four points to bring her first-quarter total to 11 and make it a 19-17 contest. 

Ella Kale (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) kicked off the second quarter for the Huskies with a jumper to tie the game at 19-19 early in the second quarter. The game went nearly three minutes before the next basket fell. Starr got the first two of her seven second-quarter points to drop and give the Huskies their first lead of the game. 

The two teams traded points, with Bloomsburg hanging on to a narrow margin before the Blue Bears recaptured the lead with an 8-0 run with two minutes left in the half. Starr scored her 21st point of the half from the free throw line as Livingstone entered the break with a 33-27 advantage. 

As the Huskies' struggles from the field continued into the second half, the Blue Bears capitalized with a 10-2 run to take a 43-29 lead. Stevenson followed the run by knocking down her first two threes of the night to make it a 46-35 ball game. Another three-point shot from Stevenson cut the deficit to single-digits with under a minute in the third quarter, but not before Livingstone found one last shot in the paint to take a 56-45 lead into the final 10 minutes of play.

Starr rattled off another four points to open the fourth quarter, but it was not enough to close the gap. A nearly two-and-a-half-minute scoring drought on both sides maintained the edge for the Blue Bears. Madison Johnson (West Orange, N.J./Union Catholic) knocked down a three with just over two minutes remaining in her debut for Bloomsburg as Livingstone walked away with the win at the final whistle. 

On the Horizon:
The Huskies play their second contest of the Carol Eckman Memorial Tournament, taking on Elizabeth City State at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 12.