Royals Pull Ahead and Defeat the Eagles 76-59
No. 4 Scranton remains undefeated, as they defeat the Eagles 76-59 on Saturday, Dec. 3.
THE HEADLINE: No. 4 Scranton remains undefeated, as they defeat the Eagles 76-59 on Saturday, Dec. 3.
THE STARTERS:
5 Bethany Spencer (York, Pa./York Suburban)
21 Katy Leamer (Altoona, Pa./Bellwood-Antis)
30 Dani Atkinson (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster-Catholic)
42 Kelly Leamer (Altoona, Pa./Bellwood)
44 Rachael Anstine (York, Pa./Dallastown)
FIRST HALF: Juniata kept the game close in the first quarter. In part to three three-pointers, two by Katy Leamer and one by Kelly Leamer, the Eagles were ahead of the Royals 9-6 halfway through the first quarter. As the clock winded down, freshman Suzy Badorf-England (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg), Bri Wasser (Ebensburg, Pa./Central Cambria) and Haley Myers (Huntingdon, Pa./Juniata Valley) contributed to make the game 20-19 Juniata. The Royals made a layup with five seconds left to pull ahead 21-20.
The beginning of the second quarter went back-and-forth. However, after Katy Leamer's free throw to tie the game at 25, Scranton went on a run, making the score 38-29 at halftime.
SECOND HALF: Katy Leamer continued to add on and scored ten points in the second half. Anstine tacked on six as well. Off the bench in the second half, Myers, Bailey Swogger (Tyrone, Pa./Bellwood-Antis) and Veronica Cosmpolis (Lima, Peru/Colegio Carmelitas) tallied up ten for the Eagles.
The Eagles efforts were not enough to matchup with the Royals' shooting 50% from the field.
KEY PERFORMANCES: Katy Leamer marked 23 points for Juniata and came close to her career-high (26). Leamer shot 50% behind the three-point line, making four of her eight attempts, and made eight shot from the field. She tallied a game-high six rebounds, all defensive.
OFF THE BENCH: Juniata scored 23 bench points, 11 of which came from Myers.
WHAT'S NEXT?: Juniata returns home to face the St. Vincent Bearcats on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m.