LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - The Bloomsburg women's basketball team's 2024-25 season comes to an end with a 70-64 defeat at Lock Haven Wednesday evening.

The Huskies (18-12) battled a daunting situation throughout the contest. Looking at foul trouble and an augmented rotation, Bloomsburg remained in the fight to be up 28-27 at halftime. Mounting foul trouble and continued trips to the foul line kept the Huskies from building momentum, eventually allowing the Bald Eagles (20-8) to attain an insurmountable lead for the win.

Ava Stevenson (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) led the pack offensively for Bloomsburg, ending the night with 12 points on 5-of-9 (55.6 percent) shooting from the floor. The senior added three rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block to her line total. Leah Kale (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) followed behind with nine points, three assists and three steals. Alison Hatajik (Duncansville, Pa./Hollidaysburg), Maddison Maynard (Lansford, Pa./Panther Valley) and Maddie LaFrance (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) all had eight points in the game.

How It Happened: 
The Huskies looked to be rolling through the early portions of Wednesday's game, jumping out to a 6-2 lead. Katie Starr (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) scored the first four points of the contest to Bloomsburg rolling, with Ella Kale (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) joining in for the four-point advantage. After a scary incident on the court led to a change in the air, Lock Haven regained the lead at 10-8.

The Huskies continued to battle, going on a quick 5-0 stretch sparked by its guard play. L. Kale drove hard in the lane and got her first basket to drop with a driving layup to tie the game into the media timeout. Bloomsburg quickly forced a turnover out of the break, and L. Kale hit LaFrance in stride for a transition three. After 90 seconds without a basket, the Bald Eagles found their own space to step into a three and force another tie as part of a 7-0 run to end the quarter for a 17-13 edge.

Lock Haven initially built off its first-quarter swing to grow its lead to six, but the Huskies surged and swarmed. Hatajik reawakened the Huskies' lineup with an and-one finish and conversion. The finish sparked an 8-2 run to tie the game - the catalyst: Stevenson. The senior guard stepped into her lone triple into the night before driving inside for two. The tough makes inside continued as Maynard and L. Kale went back-to-back for another lead change. Kale's momentum continued with another layup, getting the whistle to convert at the line for a three-point line. The Bald Eagles ended the half with the final three points to close the gap to one at the break.

The Huskies were out of the gate in the second half, firing on all cylinders. The team rallied out of the locker room for a 6-0 run to force a timeout, with three different scorers getting in on the action for a 34-27 lead. The Bloomsburg defense played tremendously to begin the second half, not allowing Lock Haven to make a basket until six minutes into the half. The Bald Eagles kept the game within reach, netting five free throws to keep it a two-possession game, eventually taking the lead off the back of an 8-0 run to make it 38-36 and force a timeout from the Huskies' bench.

The two teams continued blow for blow down the third-quarter stretch, with freshmen Maynard and Lex Ferguson (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) willing their way into the paint for more paint points and a 41-40 edge for Bloomsburg. 

Lock Haven regained its composure in the final minute and used the home-court swing to its advantage. The Bald Eagles ended the third quarter with a 5-2 stretch to go up 45-43 with a potential game-shifting second chance opportunity.

With Lock Haven up and its home crowd swirling, Bloomsburg was in an uphill battle for the final 10 minutes. The Huskies did their best in the early onset to keep the game within one possession, but the Bald Eagles seemed to find a way to respond with any step forward by Bloomsburg. The lead reached double figures and hung around that mark as the Huskies continued to claw at whatever opportunities they had on the floor. Bloomsburg had the lead down to seven points with three minutes to play, but the Huskies had their backs against the wall as the points and free possessions mounted for Lock Haven past a point of no return.

Numbers of Note: 
5-12 | 28-43 - Bloomsburg saw an unfriendly whistle throughout Wednesday night, seeing its most staggering discrepancy of the season. Lock Haven had an edge with 31 more foul shots than the Huskies in the contest with 23 additional makes. While neither team shot well from the line, Bloomsburg outscored the Bald Eagles on the floor 59-42.

50.9 - 38.0 - The Huskies' offense, facing a talented Lock Haven defense, got to its spots for an efficient night. Bloomsburg finished Wednesday making 28-of-55 attempts from the floor to shoot 50.9 percent on the night. The Bald Eagles had issues finding a consistent rhythm and ended the game with 19 makes on 50 attempts for 38 percent efficiency.

43-20 - A critical factor in the game was the Huskies' ability to limit one of the best rebounding teams in the PSAC. Lock Haven willed its way to a +23 margin on the glass, including a 16-3 difference in offensive rebounds.

40-24 - Bloomsburg's efficiency on Wednesday stemmed from an aggressive, attacking mindset. The Huskies outscored the Bald Eagles 40-24 in the paint. The Huskies took a season-low six three-pointers in the game, undercutting the previous low of nine from the regular-season finale a week ago against the Bald Eagles.