Shaw’s Career Night Unable to Put Devils Over the Top

Senior Caitlin Shaw recorded a career high 34 points but the rest of the Devils offense stalled as Bloomsburg University handed the University of the Sciences women's basketball team a 69-62 loss Tuesday night at the Bobby Morgan Arena. 

The Devils fall to 1-2 overall while Bloomsburg improves to 3-0. 

Shaw's 34 points were the most scored by a Devils basketball player since the 2001-02 season when Leah Shumoski had 34 against Nyack.  Shaw made ten of 15 shots from the field and tied a school record with 14 free  throws (17 attempts).  Caitlin also had 14 rebounds and one steal.  Shaw's 34 points is also a Devils site record for the Bobby Morgan Arena and was just five points off the school record of 39 set back in 1999 by Kim Koschineg. 

No other Devils player reached double figures but Alyssa Hamm added nine points while Becca Ruggear pulled down 10 rebounds in the losing effort.  Shooting wise the Devils held a slight advantage over the Huskies (40.8% to 40.4%) and made 20 of 24 free throws (83.3%) to BU's 11 of 14 (78.6%).  Sciences however did not help themselves by committing 29 turnovers. 

Dana Wieller did most of the damage for the Huskies with 29 points, including six three-point field goals.  As a team the Huskies nailed 12 shots from long range, outscoring the Devils 36-6 in that category.  

Sciences led 13-5 early on but BU posted an 11-2 spurt to take a 16-15 lead capped by two Wieller 'treys'.  The Huskies still led by one before they closed out the half with an 11-4 run to push the lead to  36-29 at the break.  Shaw had 18 points at the midway point while Wieller had 16. 

The Huskies crafted a 49-36 gap by the 12:36 mark of the final frame before the Devils fought back with a 12-0 run (Shaw had eight of the points) to creep within a point at 49-48 (9:25).Shaw's two free throws kept the Devils within one 51-50 before BU responded with seven straight points, which was followed by a 6-0 Sciences run to make it a 58-56 contest with 4:07 left. But big three-point field goals from Wieller and Alyssa Flanagan gave Bloomsburg a 64-56 lead with 3:22 to go, and the Devils were unable to answer back.  They did chip to within four points down the stretch but BU was not about to let this one get away and hung on for the win.