BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – A double-double from redshirt sophomore Julia Kutz highlighted the night for the East Stroudsburg University women's basketball team despite the Warriors falling short against Bloomsburg, 63-46, inside Nelson Field House.
 
ESU (14-8, 10-6 PSAC) dropped two games back of Shippensburg for the top spot in the East after the Raiders recorded a win against West Chester on Wednesday. The Warriors shot just 29.1 percent as a team in the contest, while the Huskies connected on 60.4 percent of their attempts from the field.
 
Kutz finished with a game-high 16 points and 10 rebounds for her second career double-double. She finished 4-of-6 from the free-throw line, while senior Jordan Hertz tallied eight points and six rebounds for ESU. Senior Tiffany Lapotsky finished with seven points, while junior Abby Schoffstall added six points.
 
Junior Kaitlyn Swint opened the contest for ESU with a layup to give the Warriors an early 2-0 lead against Bloomsburg. The Warriors would later take a 6-4 lead following a layup from Hertz before the Huskies answered with a jumper to knot the score with 6:07 left in the quarter. Redshirt junior Sadie Cresswell increased ESU's advantage to 10-6 with 5:03 left on the clock.
 
The Warriors regained a four-point advantage against the Huskies as Kutz hit a jumper to make it 12-8 with 4:17 left on the clock. The Huskies would start their rally to close the quarter as Emma Saxton finished a layup to knot the score 12-12 with 2:19 left in the quarter. Both sides would end the quarter without hitting another bucket.
 
Bloomsburg opened the second quarter with a 7-0 run to take a 19-12 lead against the Warriors and grab the momentum on their home court. ESU would close the gap to four on two different occasions but the Huskies continued to get their shots to fall as they took an 11-point lead with 4:09 left in the half.
 
Kutz hit one of two shots at the charity stripe to cut the deficit to eight for ESU only to see Bloomsburg close the half on a 7-0 run to take a 33-18 lead into the break. The Huskies outscored ESU 21-6 in the quarter and shot 9-of-11 from the field and drained three treys.
 
The Warriors looked to rally in the second half and trimmed the deficit to 33-23 early in the third quarter following a 3-pointer from Schoffstall with 8:36 left to play. Hertz pulled the Warriors to within 11 points of the Huskies after her jumper with 3:16 left on the clock made it 41-30. Bloomsburg closed the quarter on a 4-0 run to take a 45-30 lead in the fourth.
 
After Bloomsburg took its largest lead of the contest (55-33) with 6:05 left to play, the Warriors rallied to cut the deficit to 55-40. Kutz had three points during the run, while Hertz tallied four for ESU. The Warriors would be unable to close the gap the rest of the way as Bloomsburg countered every run that the Warriors put forth. The Huskies hit a layup with 39 seconds left to secure the 63-46 victory.
 
The Warriors return home for a pair of games beginning on Saturday as ESU hosts Millersville at 1 p.m. in a PSAC East battle. ESU also hosts Kutztown on February 12 at 6 p.m. before hitting the road to face Mansfield on February 19 at 5:30 p.m.