JUNIATA DOWNS ADRIAN COLLEGE IN WOMEN’S HOOPS TOURNEY OPENER

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Juniata College women's basketball team held off a second-half rally by Adrian College and won a 63-59 squeaker over the Bulldogs, in first round action of the Juniata College Holiday Tournament on Friday night in Huntingdon, Pa.

SUNY Brockport downed Hamilton College 74-60 in the other first round game. The host Eagles will face Brockport in Saturday's championship game at 3:00 p.m., while Hamilton will square off against Adrian College in the 1:00 p.m. consolation match.

The Eagles (6-4, 0-1 Landmark) held a 37-28 lead at the half, scoring 22 first-half point off 20 Bulldog turnovers.

Juniata's lead held at seven points, 45-38, as late as the 13:01 mark of the second half, following a jumper by Emily Hauser (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon). Adrian began chipping away at the Eagle lead, outscoring Juniata 9-2 over the next four minutes, eventually tying the game at 47-47 with 9:14 to play on a free throw by Megan Bowens.

The lead changed hands four times before the 5:09 mark, when Claudia McDowell's (Alexandria, Pa./Juniata Valley) drained a three-pointer to give the Eagles a 55-52 lead. Following a bucket by the Bulldogs' Anita Stamps which was answered by a pair of McDowell free throws, Adrian knotted the game at 57-57 with a traditional three-point play by Nichole Roose with 3:21 remaining.

Juniata's Gina Piccolini (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) nailed her only trey of the night barely a minute later, putting the Eagles back in front by three. Piccolini and Stamps traded jumpers over the next 30 seconds, and Juniata still held a 62-59 lead with 2:00 on the clock.

The Eagles held Adrian to 0-for-4 shooting from the field down the stretch, allowing Juniata to carry the win.

McDowell led the Eagles with 18 points, while Jen Hnatuck (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) was the only other Eagle in double figures with 10 points. Adrian's Bouwens paced the Bulldog attack with 12 points and nine rebounds.

Both teams turned in stellar shooting performances in the opening half, with the Eagles going 16-33 (48.5%) from the field and Adrian nearly matching at 45.8% (21-60). However both squads regressed in the second half, with Juniata shooting just 33.3% from the field while holding the Bulldogs to just 27.8% shooting.

Adrian dominated the Eagles on the boards 44-37, including a 19-15 advantage on the offensive glass.

SUNY Brockport 74, Hamilton College 60

Brockport jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, cruising to a 74-60 win over Hamilton College in Friday's opening game of the Juniata Holiday Tournament.

Brockport held an eight-point lead, 14-6, as early as the 13:41 mark of the opening half, and had a 37-26 advantage at the break.

The Continentals trailed by as many as 16 points early in the second half, but clawed their way back into the contest thanks to a 9-0 run that cut the Brockport lead to 46-39 with 13:03 to play in the game. Another 9-2 run later in the frame cut the margin down to two possessions, 53-48 with 7:06 remaining, but that was as close as Hamilton would get.

Ashley Broadhurst led the victorious Brockport Golden Eagles with 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field, while Courtney Hines added 18 points and Brenlyn Campbell chipped in with 12.

Hamilton was paced by Pumla Sathula with 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting, with Sydney Fasulo adding 12 points.

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