BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - The Bloomsburg women's basketball broke a two-game losing skid in a 63-54 victory at Nelson Field House against East Stroudsburg Wednesday evening.

After a tightly contested, low-scoring opening half that saw the Warriors (10-12, 7-9 PSAC) dictate much of the tempo, the Huskies (15-9, 9-8 PSAC) valiantly fought to rewrite the script and regain control in the second half. Bloomsburg grabbed its first lead since the first quarter with over eight minutes to play in the contest and did not let go, playing a smothering style on both ends of the court to come out on top.

Katie Starr (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) led the Huskies with 20 points in the game, marking the fourth time in the last five contests reaching the mark. The senior tacked on seven rebounds, two blocks and a steal while shooting on 6-of-9 (66.7 percent) from the floor and an 8-of-10 at the free throw line. Getting her first career starting nod, Maddison Maynard (Lansford, Pa./Panther Valley) finished second on the team with a career-high 13 points while grabbing two rebounds. Ella Kale (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) was third on the team with eight points and rounded up five rebounds, three assists and two steals on her final stat line.

How It Happened: 

Maynard dove headfirst into her first collegiate start without hesitation and provided the early offense for her team. The guard started with a make from behind the three-point line on her first attempt and followed it up with a strong effort at the rim. Starr found her first points of the day before the media timeout with the help of a dealing Ava Stevenson (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity). The senior led all players and matched a career-best with six assists.

East Stroudsburg grabbed its first lead of the night following the second and-one conversion of the quarter from PSAC-leading scorer Emily Chmiel and fended off the Huskies' efforts for most of the night. The three-point play sparked an 8-0 run for the Warriors that capped off with a three-pointer for a 13-7 lead. Bloomsburg did well on its final possessions of the quarter, with strong takes inside from Maddie LaFrance (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) and E. Kale, to cut the lead to 13-11 after one period.

The contest maintained the energy of a defensive battle into the second quarter, with East Stroudsburg making its first attempt to pull away. The Huskies fared well on their initial defensive possessions. Still, the Warriors' presence on the glass provided an edge that kept Bloomsburg on the back foot. Brooke and Brie Droege outscored the Huskies, 7-4, through the initial five minutes of the second quarter to provide breathing room for their side, additionally bolstered by a 7-0 edge in second-chance points in the quarter for a 20-13 advantage.

As East Stroudsburg found its largest lead of the night at nine with three minutes remaining in the half, Bloomsburg found the necessary answers to pull back within reach. Starr started the rally with an and-one turnaround through contact before Maynard took the Keys and knocked down a pull-up jumper along the baseline to cut the deficit to one. Leah Kale (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) knocked down her first basket of the night with a timely make from deep to cut the game to 24-23. After 90 seconds of scoreless basketball, the Warriors' tenacity on the offensive glass gave them one final look as time expired in the second quarter to take a 26-23 lead into the locker room.

The defensive emphasis carried into the second half as both sides fought to stand strong. Taking advantage of opportunities at the free throw line, the Huskies held on until E. Kale put away the first basket of the half after going coast-to-coast off to keep it a one-point game. The Warriors again found the means to build a seven-point cushion but could not muster enough to keep Bloomsburg down.

The Huskies took an assertive approach in the midst of a lackluster night from behind the three-point line. Bloomsburg rattled off 10 consecutive points from its continued engagement in the paint, with several players getting in on the action. Maynard rattled off four points in the closing stretch, along with Stevenson. E. Kale maintained her ever-involved role in the offense, dishing an assist to Alison Hatajik (Duncansville, Pa./Hollidaysburg) before returning to a reliable floater and making it 43-40. Two makes at the line for Stevenson returned the game to a one-point gap, as active hands from Kelly Leszcynski (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth) prevented another last-second shot from East Stroudsburg and sent the matchup into the fourth quarter at 43-42.

The fourth quarter saw the Huskies' continued pressure at the rim pay off for their first lead of the game after trailing for the previous 26 minutes. Starr entered the fourth quarter rejuvenated after being forced to sit with three fouls, rattling off four consecutive points and securing the lead at 46-45. Bloomsburg ran with the game from there, not letting the Warriors get within one possession for the final four-and-a-half minutes in the contest. 

Starr was the focal point of the Huskies' fourth-quarter surge, scoring 13 of her 20 points in the final 10 minutes of the game. The forward was getting the job done on the floor and at the charity stripe with help from E. Kale and Stevenson as her primary distributors. Bloomsburg's stifling defense, compounded on a soft touch from Leszcynski at the free throw line, recording all six of her points inside the final 90 seconds, guided the Huskies through a defensive struggle.

Numbers of Note: 

42-32 | 18-4 - East Stroudsburg's ability to control the game in the first half resulted from the work on the glass. The Huskies finished the game, losing the battle on the boards, 32-42, while giving up 18 second-chance points off 17 offensive rebounds for the Warriors. 

12 - Bloomsburg corrected some of the mistakes from its previous two contests by taking better care of the basketball. The Huskies finished with just 12 giveaways on the night after averaging 21.5 per contest in the last two games on the road. Bloomsburg is now 10-0 this season when surrendering less than 15 turnovers per game. 

1-15 - The Huskies defense fueled a strong final quarter Wednesday evening. Bloomsburg held East Stroudsburg to 1-of-15 (6.7 percent) shooting from the floor in the fourth. 

700 & 120 - Starr and E. Kale continue to rack up the milestones during their senior campaigns. Starr becomes the 12th player in program history to reach 700 career rebounds while Kale's 120 assists gives her the 10th most in a season with four games left in the regular season. 

On The Horizon:
Bloomsburg turns its attention to Saturday, February 15, when it will look to avenge a loss earlier in the season to Kutztown at 1:00 p.m. inside Nelson Field House.