INDIANA, Pa. – The Bloomsburg women's basketball dropped its final game before the holiday break, 74-63, to IUP Tuesday evening.

Katie Starr (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) continues a tremendous beginning to her junior season, recording her sixth double-double of the 2023 season with a game-high 21 points to go with 10 rebounds. Maddie LaFrance (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) provided an offensive spark off the bench, finishing second on the team with 16 points. Leah Kale (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) ended with double-digit points for the third consecutive night with 10 to add to a steal and a block on the defensive end.

The Huskies drop to 3-7 on the season with a 1-3 record against PSAC opponents thus far. The Crimson Hawks move to 6-2 on the year with a 2-1 mark against conference opposition. 

How It Happened: 
Both teams were in the feeling-out process in the opening minutes of the game in an attempt to find some footing. IUP took the early 4-0 lead before the efforts of Allison Hileman (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) and Starr gave Bloomsburg a 5-4 lead three minutes into the quarter. An 8-0 run from the Crimson Hawks gave the home side a 12-5 edge. 

Down 10 with a minute left in the first, LaFrance and Ella Kale (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) rattled off five points to make it a 23-18 game through the opening quarter. The tandem combined for the final 11 points of the quarter for the Huskies, with three makes coming from behind the arc.

Both teams had little going to start the second quarter, with both sides scoreless through the first two minutes. The Crimson Hawks went on a 7-0 run into the five-minute mark of the quarter to grow their advantage to 12. LaFrance got Bloomsburg on the board with a three at 4:44 for its first points of the second. The Huskies managed to make it a two-possession game at points, but the Crimson Hawks eventually entered the halftime with a 25-25 lead.

IUP came out of the break on the more aggressive front, opening the second half with an 8-3 stretch. Starr led Bloomsburg in the third, recording nine points to continue a trend of strong second-half performances. Hileman and LaFrance continued to attack the Crimson Hawks from the perimeter with six points apiece from the pair. 

In the fourth, the Huskies got the game to single digits several times but could not mount a rally to surge past IUP in the end. It was L. Kale with Bloomsburg's first four points in the fourth quarter before the Crimson Hawks surged to a game-high 15-point lead. Starr finished the game with the Huskies' final eight points of the night. 

On the Horizon:
The Huskies return to Nelson Field House on Saturday, December 30th, at 3:00 p.m. for a PSAC game against Seton Hill.