Bloomsburg, Pa. - The Millersville University women's basketball team shot 61.3 percent in the first half and held a 40-32 lead going into halftime, but Bloomsburg, sparked by a 9-1 run in the fourth quarter, was able to come back and win, 74-65. It marks the Marauders' first loss this season after holding a lead at halftime.
Millersville (6-10, 3-6 PSAC) snaps a two-game win streak, while the Huskies (10-6, 6-3 PSAC) improve to 7-0 at home.
Bloomsburg outscored the Marauders 42-25 in the second half, including 23-12 in the final quarter. After a strong shooting performance in the first half, Millersville shot just 37.5 percent in the second half.
"They were able to adjust their defense in the second half," head coach
Mary Fleig said. "We were able to get to the rim a lot in the first half and they took that away from us. We let Emma Saxton and Taylor Montana go wherever they wanted to go and didn't defend them well. Their defense picked it up in the second half and defended our post better than in the first half."
The Marauders held the lead throughout most of the second quarter and the third quarter until the Huskies took their first lead of the game less than three minutes into the fourth quarter. Millersville kept the game close after giving up the lead, trailing just 63-61 with 4:41 left on the clock. From there Bloomsburg went on its 9-1 run to take a 72-62 advantage, its largest lead of the night, with just 41 seconds left in the game.
Lauren Lister played the entire game and scored a team-high 28 points, her second-highest total of the season, and pulled down a team-high six rebounds. She also shot 54.5 percent (12-for-22) from the floor, went 4-for-7 form the charity stripe and added two assists, one block and one steal to her performance. Lister's 12 made field goals sets a new career high.
"She kept the same intensity for all 40 minutes," Fleig said. "It was one of those games where she got out in the open court and we were finding her which got our running game going. She also did a great job getting to the line. We just needed someone else to step up a little more, but I was very pleased with her effort."
Samantha Brusha also played well in her second-straight start, totaling 13 points, a team-high two steals, two assists and four rebounds while shooting 62.5 percent (5-for-8), including 3-for-4 from beyond the arch.
Kendra Bamberger also played well, recording nine points, a team-high six assists, five rebounds, one block and one steal while shooting 4-for-6 from the floor. She had to miss large chunks of the third and fourth quarters to avoid fouling out early. In her place,
Catherine Copeland came off the bench and notched six points, two rebounds and one block while shooting 3-for-4 from the floor in 14 minutes on the court.
The Marauders played strong defense against Alyssa Mack, the Huskies leading scorer, and defended the arch well. Mack, who entered the game as the PSAC leader in 3-point percentage, was held to 0-for-8 from the floor, with five of those shots coming from beyond the arch. Bloomsburg as a team registered a 5.6 3-point percentage (1-for-18) despite entering the game with the fourth-best 3-point percentage in the conference.
"We were pleased with the way we played defense in the first half," Fleig said. "We let them in the lanes too much, but did a good job defending threes."
ADDITIONAL QUOTES
• "We had a lot of good drives in the paint in the first half. We did a good job executing on offense to get those kind of looks. I thought
Kendra Bamberger did a really good job of scoring in the first half. They did a lot of switching which left her with a guard, but she still played well."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Millersville recorded a 50.9 shooting percentage, its second-highest of the season.
• The Huskies entered the game allowing 61.3 points per game to their opponents, fourth-lowest in the PSAC, and a 37.3 shooting percentage to their opponents, second-lowest in the PSAC.
• The Marauders scored a season-high 42 points in the paint.
NOTES
• The all-time series between these two teams is now tied, 42-42.
• This marks Millersville's second loss on the road this season that was decided by more than seven points.
UP NEXT
• The Marauders will stay on the road and face another tough PSAC East opponent in Kutztown on Saturday, Jan. 19 at 6 p.m.
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