WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) and
Alexa Abbonizio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) ended with 12 points each, but a difficult first-quarter shooting performance was too much for West Chester to overcome in a 67-55 setback at the hands of Bloomsburg.
West Chester outscored Bloomsburg in two of the next three quarters, outscoring the Huskies 13-11 to in the second and 18-17 in the fourth, matching Bloomsburg in scoring down the stretch but it was not enough to erase an early 14-point deficit in the 12-point setback.
After shooting just 21.1 % from the field in the first quarter and not taking a single trip to the line in the first half, West Chester stepped up its production over the final minutes of the game, going 10-of-12 from the line in the second half, and shooting a game-high 40 % from the field in the second quarter. For the game, West Chester shot 32.3 % from the field and 31.3 % from deep while shooting 83.3 % from the line in the setback.
For Bloomsburg's part, the Huskies shot 46.3 % from the field and 37.5 % from deep while also shooting 68.8 % to escape Hollinger Field House with a victory.
In The first quarter, Bloomsburg got out to an early lead, outscoring West Chester 21-10 through the first 10 minutes of basketball, leading by as many as 14 points with 30 seconds to play in the opening frame.
In the second quarter, West Chester began its comeback effort, outscoring Bloomsburg 13-11 over the second period, including a 7-0 run early in the frame to cut the deficit down to just nine points (32-23) heading into the halftime break.
At the half,
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J./Notre Dame) led all scorers with 10 points and four rebounds on 4-of-12 shooting and a 2-for-3 effort from beyond the arc.
West Chester opened the third with a quick run to cut the deficit to five points with just over a minute gone in the third, trailing 32-27 before Bloomsburg countered with a 6-0 run to take a 38-27 lead with 7:35 to play in the third. Bloomsburg maintained its lead over the balance of the third and was able to withstand a late Golden Ram run in the fourth, which saw West Chester cut the deficit to just nine points with under a minute left to earn a victory over the homestanding Golden Rams to sweep the season series.
Meghan Corridoni, led the way for Bloomsburg, scoring a game-high 18 points as one of four players in double figures while Katelin Starr poured in 13 of her own to help lead Bloomsburg past West Chester inside Hollinger Field House.
Bloomsburg ended the game with a 42-31 advantage in rebounding, which led to a 15-5 lead in second-chance points and a 34-20 advantage in points in the paint.
West Chester did manage to end the game with a 15-8 advantage in points off turnovers and a 14-9 lead in fast-break points in the setback.
West Chester will be back in action on Monday evening vs Shippensburg beginning at 5:30 p.m.
