EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. - The Bloomsburg women's basketball team responded from a midweek defeat on the road to earn a 74-61 win at East Stroudsburg Saturday afternoon.

The Huskies (11-6, 5-5 PSAC) trailed for nearly the entire first half of the contest before clawing back and knotting the game up at 31-31 at halftime. Out of the break, Bloomsburg got everything it wanted from the third quarter, shooting a blistering 9-of-13 (69.2 percent) from the field and 4-of-6 (66.7 percent) from behind the arc to outpace the Warriors (6-10, 3-7 PSAC), 25-14, in the quarter, allowing the Huskies to build up a double-digit lead and prevent East Stroudsburg from closing the gap.

Saturday's performance featured several standouts, led by Katie Starr (Berwick, Pa./Berwick). The senior finished with a game-high 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting (75 percent). The forward added six rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block to her final stat line. Kelly Leszcynski (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth) and Ella Kale (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) provided outstanding playmaking ability from the backcourt while finding their own paths to the basket. The tandem had 22 points and 15 assists to just two turnovers on the day to keep the Bloomsburg offense churning. As a team, the Huskies finished 24 assists on 27 made baskets. Ava Stevenson (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) finished second on the team with 14 points, providing a pivotal spark from off the bench, shooting 4-of-5 (80 percent) from behind the arc while grabbing three steals.

How It Happened: 
The two teams started the game in stride, trading baskets through the early possessions and relying on the defenses to generate possessions. East Stroudsburg broke the pattern with a three to build up a five-point advantage before a two-minute scoring drought. Stevenson pulled the Huskies back within a one-possession game approaching the two-minute mark off of five points, as the home side claimed an 18-14 lead after one period. 

The Warriors' cause in the opening quarter flourished with an efficient start. East Stroudsburg built its lead by shooting over 66 percent from the floor in the first. By the end of the first half, East Stroudsburg sat at 58.3 from the field. The trend of effective scoring carried until the contest's close for both teams, with the two sides each shooting over 55 percent from the field after 40 minutes. 

Stevenson and Starr continued to serve as the focal points of the offense through the first five minutes of the second quarter, combining for seven points while getting help from Lauren Kirsch (Palmyra, Pa./Lower Dauphin) and Kash Santos (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic) to bring it within two at 27-25 with under five minutes to play in the opening half. Starr again proved reliable in closing the quarter, scoring Bloomsburg's final six points in the second to tie the game up at the break. Starr and E. Kale steered the Huskies back into the game, with Starr recording 13 of the team's 31 first-half points and Kale notching seven assists at the halfway point.

The decisive quarter for the Huskies started with a bang as Leah Kale (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) knocked down a three on the team's opening possession to give Bloomsburg its first lead. L. Kale was influential through those opening three minutes of the third quarter, scoring six of the team's eight points before finding her sister, E. Kale, for a four-point stretch of her own. Under five minutes in the third, the threes began to pour in, as Madide LaFrance (2) and Leszczynski (1) sparked a 9-0 in a 1:20 stretch to balloon Bloomsburg's edge to 52-42. The Huskies remained aggressive in the closing minutes to make it a 56-45 game with 10 minutes to play. 

The host Warriors did not lay down without a fight, holding Bloomsburg without a basket for nearly 3:30 to begin the fourth quarter. That period created a 7-2 run for East Stroudsburg to cut the lead to five before Stevenson broke the seal with back-to-back makes from deep to put the lead back at 11 with 5:42 to remaining. 

After nearly three minutes without a basket, Bloomsburg began eating away at the shot clock and maximizing its final possessions. Leszcysnki started things by finding Starr for a 15-foot midrange jump shot before she and Starr each attacked the paint to push the lead to 72-56 and lock up the victory. Leszcynski was a driving force in the second-half effort, scoring all 12 of her points in the final 16 minutes with four of six assists in the final two quarters.

Numbers of Note: 
24 - Stellar ball movement from the Huskies proved a difference in Saturday's result. Bloomsburg finished with a season-high 24 assists on 27 makes from the field. That total marks the third game in the last two seasons with that total.

68.2 - In a game where both teams effectively got to their spots, the Huskies' efforts in the second half proved too much for the Warriors. Bloomsburg's second-half reset paved the way for the team to shoot 68.2 percent from the floor, going 15-of-22 from the field and 6-of-9 (66.7 percent) from behind the arc.

28 - Bloomsburg took full advantage of 21 turnovers from East Stroudsburg on the afternoon. The Huskies pushed the pace in the open court and through the offense for 28 points off of turnovers on Saturday.

26-7 - A key to the Huskies' success in the game was finding opportunities to score and receiving help from the bench. Headlined by Stevenson, Bloomsburg got additional points from LaFrance, Santos, and Kirsch. The four combined for 26 points on 9-of-16 (56.3 percent) shooting from the floor, while Stevenson and LaFrance finished 6-of-9 from deep between them.

On The Horizon:
The Huskies return to Nelson Field House on Wednesday, January 22, at 5:30 p.m. for a midweek matchup with Shepherd.