Juniata Stopped by Landmark-Leading Catholic

THE HEADLINE: The Eagles fall below .500 on the season with an 89-71 loss at Catholic University. Juniata held with the Landmark-leading Cardinals until they tallied a 52-41 second half.

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: Katy Leamer shot 2-for-2 in the field in the first five minutes for the Eagles, narrowing the Cardinals' lead to 6-4 halfway through the first quarter. 

Despite Catholic's attempt to further its lead over Juniata, Atkinson hit a jumper and a three-pointer on two straight possessions to put the Eagles behind by one. Catholic did not let up easy, as it answered with a three-pointer of its own to get ahead of JC 13-9.

Juniata made three straight stops at the Cardinals' basket. Sarah Sherman then sank a three to again trail by one.

Catholic pulled ahead 18-12 with a shot from behind the three-point line and a jumper. On the last possession of the first quarter, Atkinson sank another three-pointer and Eagles trailed 18-15 at the end of the first. 

With Katy Leamer's put-back on the first play of the second quarter, the Eagles were again within one. The Cardinals went on an undisputed run, in part to three missed shots for JC, pulling ahead 24-17.

After a Juniata timeout, Katy Leamer hit one from behind the arc. Atkinson then created an opportunity for Juniata with a steal, capitalizing on it with a jumper.

With two free throws, the Cardinals extended their lead to 26-22.

Bri Wasser (Ebensberg, Pa./Central Cambria) ended almost two scoreless minutes with a three-pointer. A layup on the other end put the Cardinals up by three. However, Wasser answered with another three to tie the game at 28.

After a Cardinals' layup, Anstine tied the game once again with a put-back. In the last minute and half of the first half, the Cardinals went on a 7-0 run.

Catholic led 37-30 heading into halftime.

SECOND HALF: The Cardinals began to add on to their seven-point lead immediately, pulling ahead 67-50 with a 30-20 third quarter. Wasser led the Juniata offense with nine points on two threes, a jumper and a free throw. Freshman forward Morgan Instone (Johnstown, Pa./Bishop McCort) followed with five points in the quarter for JC.

Juniata tallied 21 points in the fourth quarter, but the Cardinals maintained at least a 10-point lead. An 11-4 JC run, backed by five points from Atkinson, was halted with five minutes remaining in the game. Despite six more points from Atkinson, Catholic held a solid lead and won the contest 89-71 to remain undefeated in the Landmark Conference.

LEADING PERFORMANCES: Atkinson tallied 21 points for Juniata, as she went 9-for-15 from the field and 3-for-6 behind the arc.

Wasser followed with 15 points, one point shy of her career high. Nine of her 15 points came in the third quarter alone. The junior sank a game-high four three-pointers in the contest.

Anstine and Instone each marked six rebounds.

UP NEXT: The Eagles, now 1-7 in the conference, are set to face Susquehanna in Memorial Gym on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m.