West Chester Upsets No. 16 Bloomsburg, 93-88, In Overtime

Box Score

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Dallas Ely (Montrose, Pa./Montrose) scored a game-high 25 points, and Jasmen Clark (Temple, Pa./Oley) poured in a career-best 22, as West Chester outlasted 16th-ranked Bloomsburg, 93-88, in a PSAC women's basketball contest inside Hollinger Field House Wednesday evening.
 
West Chester (19-4, 15-4 PSAC) rebounded, after squandering a 19-point second half lead, to force overtime, before putting away Bloomsburg (19-3, 16-2) at the foul line in the extra session. It was Serifat Junaid's (Chesilhurst, N.J./Camden Catholic) pair of free throws with 12 seconds left that forced the OT period at the end of regulation.
 
With the win, West Chester ended Bloomsburg's 12-game winning streak and halted the Huskies' 24-game win streak against PSAC Eastern Division opponents that dated back to last season. It also marked the end of a 20-game road winning streak by the Huskies. The Golden Rams' 46 points in the first half were the most surrendered by the Huskies in a frame all winter.
 
Trailing 81-80 early in the overtime, West Chester went on a 7-0 run over a 1:30 span to take an 87-81 lead. From there, the Rams went 6-for-8 from the charity stripe, including 4-for-4 from Ely, to ice the game.
 
Bloomsburg, which shot 20 of 24 from the foul line in the game, missed two crucial attempts in the final 41 seconds that could have given the Huskies the road win. The visitors went on a 33-14 run over an 11:41 stretch in the second half to turn a 57-38 deficit into a 71-71 tie with 5:05 remaining. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Marla Simmons gave Bloomsburg its first lead of the contest since the 14-minute mark of the first half with 4:49 left to play.
 
West Chester was able to create that 19-point lead thanks to a 23-13 run over the final 11 minutes of the first half. The hosts then opened the second half with an 11-2 spurt to reach their largest lead of the night.
 
Clark's career-high 22 points were powered by another career-best six 3-pointers. She finished 6-for-9 from beyond the arc, hitting her first five attempts.
 
Brittany Sicinski (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) posted her third double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds. She also added five assists and four steals. Junaid finished with seven points and eight boards in the win.
 
Chikisha Steele-Hook (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Twp.) grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds, including six caroms off the offensive glass. West Chester outrebounded Bloomsburg by a whopping 54-29 margin. Anna Kuntz (Camp Hill, Pa./Trinity) was the only other Golden Rams player in double figures. She scored 10 points and pulled in nine rebounds.
 
West Chester continues its homestand one week from tonight when East Stroudsburg invades Hollinger Field House for a 5:30 p.m. tip.