Women's Basketball Defeats Greyhounds

Huntingdon, Pa.- The Juniata women's basketball team forced 20 turnovers on their way to a 74-61 win over visiting Moravian, Saturday afternoon at Memorial Gymnasium.

Morgan Instone (Johnstown, Pa./Bishop McCort) tallied her fifth double-double of the year with 16 points and 10 rebounds along with two blocks. Dani Atkinson (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Catholic) had 15 points, seven rebounds and three steals while Rachael Anstine (York, Pa./Dallastown) tallied 12 points, seven rebounds, six assists, two steals and four blocks. Gracie Stauffer (Loysville, Pa./West Perry) chipped in with 12 points off the bench while Bethany Spencer (York, Pa./York Suburban) had 10 points and five rebounds. 

The Greyhounds got on the board first with two free throws. Anstine drove to the basket and finished to tie the score at two. Veronica Cosmopolis (Lima, Peru/Colegio Carmelitas) found Instone for a layup inside and Anstine split a pair of foul shots as JC led 5-2 early. Another Instone layup and a jumper from Spencer off pass out of the post from Instone made it 9-2. Later in the first, Anstine tossed it inside to Stauffer for two, but the Greyhounds responded with a layup to make it 12-6. Atkinson hit a jumper while being fouled and sunk the foul shot to make it 15-6. JC led 17-9 after the first period.

The second period opened with the teams exchanging misses. Atkinson grabbed an errant Eagle shot and laid it in to make it 19-9 as Moravian called timeout. The teams traded points, and with just under five minutes remaining the Greyhounds had the ball down eight, 23-15. Suzy Badorf-England (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg High School) stole the ball and tossed it ahead to Atkinson. She found Carmella Bickel (Elysburg, Pa./Lourdes Regional) all alone in the corner and Bickel drilled the three to make it 26-15. On the next Eagle possession, Madison Colyer (Newville, Pa./Big Spring) corralled an offensive rebound and dished it two England who laid it in. Moravian scored six quick points to make it 28-23 in the final 50 seconds. An Atkinson jumper provided the final points of the half as JC led 30-23 at intermission.

The third quarter had an offensive feel to it early as the teams traded buckets. A Spencer three from the left wing after some nice ball movement and an Instone layup off a pass from Atkinson and another Spencer three, this time off the dribble from the left wing, helped the Eagles maintain their lead at 38-30. Anstine had a hand in the three Eagle baskets: she scored inside, found Instone for an open jumper and nailed a shot off a pass from Cosmopolis to make it 44-32. Back to back Stauffer layups pushed the lead to 48-32 as JC tried to pull away. The Greyhounds did not back down, and by the end of the quarter narrowed the gap to 11 at 51-40.

Two quick field goals by Moravian opened the fourth as they pulled within seven at 51-44. Cosmopolis found Instone inside for another layup and Atkinson for an elbow jumper to push the lead back to double digits. The Greyhounds continued to nip on the heels of the Eagles, and with just over three minutes to go they got within seven at 63-56. Back to back Stauffer buckets from the left block with assists from Anstine and Bickel respectively, made it 67-56. Moravian made a jumper to get within nine and began to foul. The Eagles went five of six down the stretch to ice the game.

Juniata shot 42.6% from the floor and held Moravian to 30.2% shooting. JC had a narrow 45-41 edge on the glass. JC got a big boost from their bench, as the Eagle bench outscored the Greyhound reserves 19-7.

The Eagles next play at Elizabethtown, Wednesday at 7:00.