Turnovers undermine Juniata women’s hoops in 73-54 loss at Scranton

SCRANTON, Pa. – Juniata College committed 26 turnovers leading to 32 Royal points as the Eagles dropped a 73-54 decision to the University of Scranton, in Landmark Conference women's basketball action Friday night in Scranton, Pa.

The Eagles (12-7, 5-3 Landmark) stuggled to find their shooting touch in the first half, going 11-30 (36.7%) from the floor in the first 20 minutes. Scranton shot 51.6% (16-31) in the opening frame, and went into the locker room at halftime with a commanding 40-26 lead.

Juniata opened the second half with a three-point bucket by Gina Piccolini (Indiana, Pa./Indiana), one of only three Eagle treys on the night, to make the score 40-29. However the Eagles would not score again until the 13:57 mark of the second half, when Emily Hauser (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) made a layup.

The deficit reached 23 points, 62-39, with exactly seven minutes to play, after a layup by Scranton's Jennifer King capped an 11-2 Royal run.

The Eagles finished the game shooting 38.5% from the field (20-52). Jen Hnatuck (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) paced the Juniata offense with game-highs of 13 points and nine rebounds, while Piccolini finished with a season-high nine points. Ali Meckey (Ebensburg, Pa./Bishop Carroll) dished out four assists.

Juniata will attempt to get back into the win column on Saturday afternoon when it faces Moravian College in another Landmark Conference matchup.

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