BLOOMSBURG-The Bloomsburg University women's basketball team lost Shippensburg on Wednesday night by a score of 72-67 in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division matchup. In the game Shippensburg's Lauren Beckley became the all-time leading scorer in PSAC history and now has 2,316 career points.
In the early going the two teams were tied on three occasions before the Huskies used a 20-6 run to grab control of the game, 30-16, with 6:33 to play in the first half. Alyssa Flanagan (Freeland, Hazleton Area) scored eight points and Kayla Oxenrider (Ashland, Tri-Valley) hit two three-pointers for the Huskies in the rally.
Shippensburg though got a rally of its own going and closed out the half with an 18-6 run to trim the deficit to just one point at the break, 36-35.
In the second half the Lady Raiders led by as many as 13 points, 59-46, before the Huskies made one last run at them. Back to back three-pointers from Oxenrider and Dana Wieller (Bethlehem, Liberty) helped cut the lead to 65-58 with 6:52 to play. Later two free throws from Wieller made it a three-point game at 65-62 with 4:09 to play.
After a layup from Beckley made it a 68-62 game with 3:17 to play, the Huskies got a layup from Jen Dervarics (Emmaus, Emmaus), then forced a turnover and converted it to points when Oxenrider scored inside making it a 68-66 game with 25 seconds to play. Beckley, however, went 4-4 from the foul line in the closing seconds to close out the five point win.
Beckley finished with a season-high 43 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the Lady Raiders, now 13-14, 6-5 in the PSAC East. Beckley broke the PSAC scoring record held by Cheyney's Valerie Walker set from 1978-82. Kasey Gardner also scored in double figures for Shippensburg finishing with 15 points.
Bloomsburg, now 14-9, 6-5 in the PSAC East, got 17 points from Oxenrider and 13 from Kelsey Gallagher (East Stroudsburg, East Stroudsburg South). Also hitting double figures were Flanagan with 12 and Jordan Pasik (Gilbertsville, St. Pius X) with 10.
The Huskies will host Millersville on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the team's annual Huskies for Hope/Pink Zone game. The first 150 fans to the game will receive free a Huskies for Hope t-shirt. There will also be chances to win baskets from area merchants with all proceeds benefitting the American Cancer Society.