Eagles Soar to Next Round With 94-80 Win Over Carnegie Mellon

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Senior Jordan Speck (Huntingdon, Pa./Southern Huntingdon) scored a game and career-high 29 points to help lead the Juniata women's basketball team to a 94-80 win over Carnegie Mellon Wednesday night in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) quarterfinals.  Speck made a career-best six three's and went 7-for-8 from the free throw line. 

"What a way to go out," said head coach Danny Young-Uhrich of the senior's performance in her final home game.  "It was pretty awesome.  She just didn't limit herself to shooting three's.  She did drive the hoop and got up to the line.  She did a lot of good things."

Four of the five starters finished in double figure points as the Eagles improved to 19-8 overall and advanced to the south region semifinals.

Junior Kate McDonald (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa./State College Area) earned her third straight double-double with 23 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.  Junior Jordan Hileman (Williamsburg, Pa./Williamsburg) and sophomore Kelsey Livoti (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) finished with 13 and 15 points, respectively.

The Eagles led by as many as 20 in the first half. They scored 41 points off 28 Tartan turnovers and shot 43 percent from the floor as a team.

Carnegie Mellon was led by Emily Peel.  She finished with 27 points and team-high nine rebounds.

Juniata heads to face Moravian College in the semifinal this Saturday, March 2.  They are 1-1 against the Greyhounds this season.

"The good thing is, we know a lot about them," started Young-Uhrich.  "The bad news is, we know a lot about them.  I think that we need to view it strictly as the ECAC tournament and take all conference knowledge out of play because it really is a completely different tournament.  Moravian is always a tough place to play.  Because it is win or go home I'm hoping that we can embrace the opportunity that we have and just take it to them."

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