BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg women's basketball team bounced back from a midweek defeat with a 66-59 victory over Shepherd Saturday afternoon on senior day. Junior Allison Hileman (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) and senior Julia Wheeler (Albion, Pa./Northwestern), were honored pregame. 

Katie Starr (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) led all scorers on the day with 19 points and topped the rebound numbers for the Huskies with seven while shooting 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) from the field. Maddie LaFrance (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) added 13 points and two steals in the contest, with Lauren Kirsch (Palmyra, Pa./Lower Dauphin) dropping 12 points, shooting 50 percent from the floor and 40 percent from behind the arc to go with four rebounds and a career-high three steals.

Bloomsburg (8-18, 6-14 PSAC) earn an important late-season win to remain in contention for a PSAC Tournament spot. The Rams fall to 6-19 over with a 4-16 record in conference action.

How It Happened: 
The Huskies got off to an explosive start on the offensive end, starting the game on a 16-3 run through the first six minutes of action. As a team, Bloomsburg shot 7-for-8 (87.5 percent) as a team and 2-of-3 (66.7 percent) from three-point range. Starr (6), LaFrance (5) and Kirsch (5) sparked the huge opening effort. 

Despite leading by as much as 14 in the first quarter, Shepherd chipped away at its deficit to bring it down to single digits in part to a 7-0 run from the Rams. Hailey Hudak (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring Ford) ended the quarter with an exclamation, converting an and-one layup to bring it back to double-digits at 24-14 after 10 minutes of play. 

The Huskies began the quarter by turning defense into offense after LaFrance picked a pocket and sent a breakaway pass up the court to Wheeler for the fastbreak layup. Up by 12 with 5:00 to play in the opening half, Shepherd again cut Bloomsburg's lead to single digits following an 8-0 run to make it a 30-26 game. Starr broke the scoring drought with a layup and five of the last six points of the second for the Huskies to make it a 36-29 game at the half. 

Out of the break, both teams struggled in the opening minutes to find a basket. LaFrance converted the first basket of the half at 7:56 to get things going. The Rams again found a means to close the gap, bringing the game to 39-38 approaching the halfway point in the third quarter. As Bloomsburg's shooting cooled off, the team found ways to put points on the board via the free throw line. Ava Stevenson (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) and Starr broke through from the field to give the Huskies a 47-41 heading into the final quarter.

As the two teams traded baskets to begin the fourth quarter, Shepherd's Peyton Grant gave the Rams their first lead with tremendous shooting from behind the arc, capping it off by converting a three through contact for a four-point play and a 52-49 edge. Bloomsburg knocked down its next four shots from the floor, with timely shooting from Kirsch, LaFrance and Ella Kale (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) to make it a two-possession game. From there, the Huskies locked in on the defensive end and from the charity stripe to ice the contest and come out on top.

After missing much of the season due to injury, Wheeler made her presence felt by getting her first start of the year as part of senior ceremonies. The Albion, Pa. native finished with four points, two rebounds, a steal and a block to go with solid defensive minutes along the perimeter. 

On the Horizon:
The Huskies stay at Nelson Field House for their final home game of the season against Lock Haven at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 28.