Box Score
BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – Trailing by nine at halftime, Bloomsburg University put up 52 points in the second half and outscored visiting West Chester by 19 to come away with a 76-68 victory in a battle for first place in the PSAC Eastern Division standings Saturday afternoon at Nelson Field House.
West Chester (13-5, 4-2 PSAC East) fell into third place behind Bloomsburg (13-5, 5-1) and Millersville, who defeated Kutztown on Saturday. Bloomsburg sits atop the division standings, one-half game ahead of the Marauders, who will play at East Stroudsburg Sunday in a make-up of Wednesday’s snowed-out contest.
Allison Hostetter scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, but it was not enough to stop the charging Huskies in the second half.
West Chester never trailed in the first half, running out to an 11-point advantage at the break (35-24). The Golden Rams would eventually increase their lead to 13 in the early stages of the second half, before Bloomsburg began its comeback. The Huskies went on a 17-7 run over a five-minute span to knot the game for the first time at 44-apiece.
The Rams answered with a 15-5 run of its own to push its lead back into double digits with 9:40 left. However, the hosts reversed that spurt with a 15-4 stint over the next six minutes to claim its first lead of the contest (64-63) on a bucket from Dana Weiller, who finished with 20 points. Teammate Kayla Oxenrider netted a game-high 26 points for the Huskies.
Bloomsburg outscored West Chester, 12-5, the rest of the way to come away with the pivotal victory in the league standings.
Mary Kate Serratelli followed up her stellar performance on Thursday at Shippensburg with 14 points in the loss. Ambreelinne Ortman scored nine off the bench for the Golden Rams.
West Chester, who was ranked eighth in the first NCAA Atlantic Region poll of the season earlier this week, returns to Hollinger Field House on Wednesday as it welcomes cross-town rival Cheyney for a 7:30 p.m. tip. The men’s game will precede the women’s game Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
