BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - The Bloomsburg women's basketball team ran away with a 71-41 win on Tuesday evening at Nelson Field House against Lincoln.

The Huskies (4-1) posted a dominant effort in the first half, outscoring the Lions (1-3), 44-18 through 20 minutes. Bloomsburg carried that momentum with an emphatic display on the defensive end to go up 62-24 heading into the fourth. The Huskies managed to get game time for the newest additions.

Leading the way in the game for Bloomsburg was the shooting performance of Maddie LaFrance (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin). The redshirt junior finished with all 15 points on the night from a five-of-seven (71.4 percent) outing from three-point range. The guard tacked on a career-high four assists in the contest without committing a turnover. Kelly Leszcynski (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth) joined in on the strong shooting night by going 3-of-3 from behind the arc with 11 points in total. The guard matched a career-best with three steals and added two assists. Alison Hatajik (Duncansville, Pa./Hollidaysburg) chipped in another noteworthy performance from the post, notching nine points, six rebounds, and a career-high three blocks in the win. Hatajik's presence in the paint has been a notable increase, with the forward grabbing at least five rebounds in five consecutive games for the first time in her collegiate career.

How It Happened:
The Huskies got off to as good a start as they could have asked for with an 11-2 run to open the game. LaFrance made the opening statement for Bloomsburg with a three-pointer. The Huskies' tempo allowed for the next basket, as LaFrance found Ava Stevenson (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) down the court for a quick two. Following free throws by the Lincoln, Leszcynski stepped outside the arc for her first triple, with Leah Kale (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) contributing the assist. Kale was repaid for her unselfishness with a layup on a feed from LaFrance for an and-one conversion. 

The Lions would break their scoring drought with the lone three-point make in the contest for the visitors with six minutes to play in the opening quarter. Lincoln would muster just three more points in the first, which would not come for another five minutes of action. Bloomsburg wasted little time finding its spots from behind the arc, with LaFrance and Leszcynski making triples on back-to-back possessions. A mid-range jumper from Hatajik and another three-pointer off the hands of Stevenson would see Bloomsburg carry a 22-5 advantage for much of the remaining time. 

An and-one conversion for the Lions to make it a 14-point game was not enough to deter the Huskies' ball movement. Bloomsburg maintained a torrent flow in favor of the home side, as Stevenson found Lex Ferguson (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) inside for the final basket of the quarter and a 24-8 edge after 10 minutes. In the first quarter, Bloomsburg recorded an assist on eight of the team's nine baskets and on all five of the three-point conversions.

As Stevenson continued the parade of threes for the Huskies' offense, Lincoln managed to get a few stops and get up and down the court for a quick four points in the paint. That stretch did not last long for the Lions, as Bloomsburg quickly rattled off a 10-0 run to push the lead past 20 points. LaFrance and Leszcynski once more took over along the perimeter, with LaFrance getting her side back into a rhythm with a three before finding Leszcynski for her own three-point make. The Huskies looked to the paint on their next several possessions, getting baskets from Kale and Hatajik to make it a 25-point contest. The final five minutes of the half would go back and forth between the sides, as the two teams trade points and spells of stalled possessions. Ferguson had a solid close to the second quarter with her team's final three points to make it a 26-point lead at the halftime break. 

The starters would come in for one final spell to begin the third quarter, and they ended their nights with a 10-2 run to kick off the half. After Hatajik knocked down a pair of free throws, LaFrance sank her final two threes of the night to push Bloomsburg's lead over the 30-point threshold. A Leszcynski layup would be the last call for a majority of the starting lineup with just under seven minutes remaining in the third quarter. 

Four different players would help the Huskies close out the quarter while maintaining the overall defensive intensity. The Lions closed the third without a single make from the field, getting all of its points from the charity stripe. With its new rotation, Bloomsburg's offensive intent shifted to the paint. Maddison Maynard (Lansford, Pa./Panther Valley) helped the bench unit get things going with a layup inside before Kash Santos (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic) went up for her own paint points after checking into the contest. Ferguson went up for her finish inside the paint on a nice feed from Olivia Selverian (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) for the Huskies' final basket of the quarter. Defense reigned supreme in the final three minutes of the third, as neither team was in sync heading into the fourth. Sophia Shults (Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton Area) would finish off the quarter with the first year's first career points, going two-for-two on a trip to the free throw line, as Bloomsburg led by 38 with 10 minutes remaining. 

The Huskies handed off the keys to several of the team's new pieces, and the new units experienced some growing pains in their first action with the team and each other in the first live minutes. Lincoln had its best run of the night, a 6-0 stretch through the first two minutes of the quarter. Kalleigh Nerone (Pittsburgh, Pa./Highlands) snapped Bloomsburg out of the funk momentarily after knocking down a mid-range jumper with an assist from Piper McGinley (Glenside, Pa./Abington). Freshman Lily Milewski (Morrisville, Pa./Conwell-Egan Catholic) recorded her first career points with the Huskies after converting on a short jumper inside the paint on a feed from Mackenzie Creighton (Rockaway, N.J./Morris Hills). 

The Lions would continue to show fight in the game, notching another run to cut into the deficit, this time a two-minute, 8-1 stretch to see Bloomsburg's lead back under 30 points. Diamond Thornton (Philadelphia, Pa./Wilkes-Barre Area) would join in on the collegiate firsts, as the guard tallied her first career point on a trip at the free throw line. Freshmen linked up once more, as Shults found Milewski on a slick inside pass to get the Huskies back on the scoreboard with under four minutes to play. Bloomsburg would settle down defensively, with the team holding Lincoln to just three points from the foul line in the final four minutes of action. Shults would continue to show some aggressiveness in the closing moments, finding space for a layup at the rim, as the Huskies would hold on for the 30-point victory. 

Numbers of Note: 
16 - Everyone got a piece of the action Tuesday evening. All 16 of the Huskies' available players saw action in Bloomsburg's win over Lincoln. Each player touched the floor for at least five minutes. Six players made their team debut on Tuesday, Creighton, McGinley, Milewski, Shults, Thornton, and Carleigh Anderson (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Catholic), the latter four of whom made their collegiate debuts.

10-17 - The reason behind the Huskies' rampant start to the contest was the ability to knock down open looks from behind the arc. LaFrance, Leszcynski, and Stevenson combined to shoot 10-for-15 (.667) from three-point range in the game.

0-13 - Bloomsburg put any doubts away in the contest due to its defensive effort in the third quarter. The Lions shot 0-of-13 from the floor in the third, with the team's six points in the quarter coming from the foul line.

On the Horizon:
The Huskies return from a holiday break on Saturday, December 6, at 1:00 p.m. for their first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) contest of the season at Nelson Field House against California (Pa.).