Juniata hands Castleton 84-57 loss to advance in NCAA Championship

HUNTINGDON, PA. -  Juniata College women's basketball earned an 84-57 win over Castleton State College in order to advance to the second round of the 2012 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship, Friday evening in Kennedy Sports + Recreation Center.

The Eagles launched out to an early 14-2 lead in the first 3:45 of play thanks to a junior Natalie Glinsky (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) 3-pointer, a foul shot and three sophomore Kate McDonald (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa./State College Area) layups, a senior Ashton Bankos (York, Pa./York Catholic) jumper, and a senior Meagan Raville (McSherrystown, Pa./Delone Catholic) trey.

Juniata (26-2) continued to rack up the points on the Spartans, and finished the first half with a substantial 43-29 lead. McDonald notched 17 of her 21 points in the first half, including Juniata's six points in the remaining four minutes of the first stanza.

In the first five minutes of the second half, Juniata put up 15 points to Castleton's five. The Blue and Gold scoring spree featured a Glinsky three and layup, a junior Alyssia Gordon (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) layup, a Raville drive in the paint, followed by a McDonald layup and pair of foul shots. Sophomore Jordan Hileman (Williamsburg, Pa./Williamsburg) finished the Juniata scoring frenzy with a set of shots from the charity stripe.

The Eagle lead peaked with 2:51 on the game clock with a sophomore Kelsey Livoti (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) jumper that increased Juniata's lead to 29 with an 84-55 score.

Juniata finished the night shooting 46.3% from the field, its best performance since shooting at a .475 clip in a 71-48 win against Scranton earlier this season (1/21). Castleton (22-6) managed a .368 shooting percentage from the floor. 

McDonald posted 21 points, and Glinsky was next in line with 17 including a team high three buckets from 3-point land. Raville logged 12 points and junior Jordan Speck (Huntingdon, Pa./Southern Huntingdon) was the fourth and final player to reach double-digits with 10 points. 

Juniata will now face York College of Pennsylvania, who defeated Saint Vincent College earlier Friday night 86-66 in the first round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship, on Saturday, March 2, at 7:30 p.m. in Kennedy S+RC.

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