Tonight was just not their night.

Despite a career-night from freshman Alex Gildea and 15 points a piece from Dana Wert and Sarah Strybuc, the Bloomsburg University Huskies proved to be the No. 1 team in the PSAC East, dethroning the Shippensburg University women’s basketball team in a 66-58 contest on Wednesday night at Heiges Field House.

The Raiders jumped out to a 15-7 lead, as Wert and Strybuc paced the team with five and four points, respectively. SU saw that lead vanish as Kayla Oxenrider drained a 3-pointer and Lauren Ellis converted on an and-one to pull the Huskies even at 17 with 6:53 remaining in the first half.

The two teams battled in the last six minutes and despite Strybuc’s 12 first-half points, the Raiders went into the break trailing 27-26.

Dana Wieller and Alyssa Flanagan propelled the Huskies to an eight-point lead early in the second half and after an Oxenrider 3-pointer gave the Huskies a 39-32 lead, BU seemed to control the momentum of the game.

However, like many times this year, SU battled back. Wert and Caitlyn Deeter scored on consecutive trips to the basket, pulling the Raiders within two and setting up what could have been late-game heroics for Gildea.

Gildea, who has seen an increase in playing time in the recent weeks scored a career-high 13 points, including two huge second half 3-pointers that seemed to change the tide late in the game. Trailing 39-37 with 12:41 remaining, Gildea banked in a 3-pointer to give the Raiders the lead. Her second act brought Heiges Field House to their feet as the freshman drained a 3-pointer from the corner to deadlock the game at 53 with 2:38 remaining.

Unfortunately for SU, that was the last of the highlights.

The Huskies dominated the last two minutes of the game, countering with a 10-1 run behind four points from Dana Wieller and Jocelyn Ford to extend the lead to 63-54 and cement the victory.

Wieller, the leading scorer in the PSAC, finished the game with 16 points on the night. Catherine Noack contributed 12 points while Ellis and Jocelyn Ford led the Huskies with seven rebounds.

Gildea led SU with eight rebounds — finishing the game two rebounds shy of a double-double. Her 13 points led all bench-scorers.

With the loss, the Raiders dropped out of the No. 1-spot in the PSAC East. BU and Millersville University are now atop of the division after the Marauders 76-45 victory over Cheyney University. SU is back in action Saturday when it hosts East Stroudsburg University at Heiges Field House in the team’s Play 4 Kay event.

Share