PHILADELPHIA, P.A. - The Bloomfield College Bears women's basketball team took to the road and prevailed in a 61-59 victory over the Devils of USciences Saturday afternoon. The win marked the Bears sixth straight and featured senior center,
Tierra Scott's (Bear, Del.) sixth double-double of the season as she netted 13 points and snagged 10 rebounds. Sophomore guard,
Morgan Taylor (Paterson, N.J.) poured in a team-high 14 points for Bloomfield who currently sit atop the Central Athletic Collegiate Conference (CACC) North Division at 15-3 and 17-8 overall. The setback, USciences second straight, dropped the CACC South Division leader to 14-3 in conference action and 18-6 overall.
The two top teams in the CACC went at it in the first half and remained neck and neck for the majority of the period. The Devils went up 18-17 at the 8:36 mark in the first half. Bloomfield responded with an 8-0 run capped by
Ariel Wilson's (Chesapeake, V.A.) bucket on a fast break, putting them up 25-18 with 4:48 remaining. The fast break was started by one of Wilson's two first half steals. The Bears stood true to their identity in the opening stanza, playing excellent defense. Bloomfield held the Devils to just 33 percent shooting while forcing 9 turnovers. The Bear's stifling defense sent them into the break with a 29-23 lead.
The Bears went up 36-29 early in the second half after a Taylor three-pointer. Usciences continued to fight back as Brianne Traub (Wayne, N.J.) had a great second half, scoring 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Traub connected on a jumper to slice the Bears advantage to 50-49 with 4:25 left in the game. Bloomfield pushed their lead back up to five (54-49) after a Scott layup and
Tianna Smith (Nanuet, N.Y.) converted one out of two from the line. The Bears never relinquished their lead in the second period as each time the Devils came close, Bloomfield answered in the pivotal battle between the CACC number one teams. Smith finished the afternoon with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
Traub, who posted a game-high 21 points, made things very interesting late in the contest. Her layup made it 60-59 with just under a minute left to play. Usciences' hope of a come from behind victory on Senior Day was put to rest after Traub was whistled for an offensive foul. Taylor headed to the line and sank one of her two free throws. The Devils were still in a position to steal the Bears dominated afternoon but a three-point shot at the buzzer rimmed off and Bloomfield secured the big win.
The CACC top seeded Bears return to action on Tuesday, February 24th for a winner-take-all battle with crosstown rival Caldwell University. The Cougars, currently second in the CACC North Division standings look to dethrone the Bears as regular season champs from a year ago and enter the conference tournament with the #1 seed. With a win Bloomfield will look to secure a consecutive regular season championship en route to defending their CACC title in the conference tourney next week. Tuesday's huge match up is set to tip-off at 6:00pm.
We invite you to the George R. Newman Center on the Campus of Caldwell University to watch the game LIVE or see it online by clicking
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(story written by Mark Reyes - Sports Information Department intern)
