INDIANA, Pa. – On a day where the Crimson Hawks celebrated last year's national semifinalist season, newcomer Justina Mascaro scored a game-high 21 points to lift No. 16 IUP women's basketball to a 66-52 conference-opening win over visiting Bloomsburg Saturday at the Kovalchick Complex.
 
Mascaro finished the game 9-of-17 from the field and made two free throws to go along with four rebounds in 32 minutes. The 21 points is a career-high.
 
Prior to tipoff, fans celebrated last year's squad that went 30-4, won division, PSAC tournament and Atlantic Region titles, and advanced to its second straight NCAA Elite Eight semifinal game. IUP achieved the program's first-ever No. 1 national ranking, which it held for three weeks during the regular season.
 
The Crimson Hawks started slow, but warmed up towards the end of the first quarter with a 10-2 run that gave them a 20-10 lead. A pair of 3-pointers from Natalie Myers and Courtney Alexander highlighted the run.
 
Bloomsburg (1-3, 0-1) narrowly outscored the Crimson Hawks in the second quarter, closing its deficit to four points on two occasions in the frame. IUP answered each time, getting its lead back to 10 before taking a 36-28 lead into halftime.
 
After shooting just 37 percent in the first half the Crimson Hawks came out hot in the third quarter, converting 9-of-15 from the floor to push their lead well into the double-digits at 56-41. Mascaro was the driving force of that run going 5-of-5 with a 3-pointer and a block, scoring 11 points in the frame.
 
IUP also committed eight fouls in the third but the Huskies couldn't capitalize, going just 5-of-10 from the line.
 
From there the Crimson Hawks cruised down the stretch to improve to 4-1 on the year and win their ninth straight conference opener.
 
Mikayla Lovelace was the only other IUP player to reach double-figures, scoring 11 points with seven rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes of the bench. Natalie Myers finished with seven points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
 
Up next
The Crimson Hawks host East Stroudsburg (2-2, 0-1) Sunday at the KCAC. The game was chosen as an NCAA Division II Showcase and will be streamed on Division II's Facebook and Twitter pages.
 
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_WBB.