Blue Jays Power Past Eagles in Second Half
HUNTINGDON, Pa. - The Juniata women's basketball team was within nine points at the halftime break before falling 78-51 to #19 Elizabethtown College on Wednesday evening.
The Blue Jays scored a minute into playing on a jump shot before Kynnedy Miller found Steph Emert open on the right corner for a three-pointer to go in front 3-2. Elizabethtown converted a layup on their next possession, and then Haily Sherman stepped back on the right wing and sank a three to go ahead 7-4 through three minutes. Bri Bodtorf followed with a layup, and Sherman hit another three from the left wing to keep the gap at 11-6 halfway through the first.
Elizabethtown posted five straight to level the scoreline at 11 but then conceded a foul on Bodtorf, who sank two from the free-throw line. Bodtorf followed with a jump shot, but Elizabethtown concluded the period with a 7-0 run in the final two minutes to go ahead 22-15 through a quarter.
The Eagles maintained the gap in the second quarter to go into the halftime intermission down 39-30. The Blue Jays opened the second with a three-pointer and a layup to go ahead by 12 early. Emma Coolidge hit Bodtorf for a layup to get back to ten down, and the gap would stay around ten points until about halfway through the quarter. Bodtorf rebounded a missed layup and hit a layup of her own, and this was followed by a three from center-court from Emert to get back to within five at 31-26.
The sides traded points up to 35-30 during a spell that saw two Emert layups, but Elizabethtown eventually broke the back-and-forth with two straight layups to end the second half nine points up.
The Blue Jays quelled the Juniata offense in the third quarter, with the Eagles managing just nine points following a 14-point unanswered run from Elizabethtown to open the third, with all nine Juniata points coming in the final three minutes of play, but they trailed 57-39 with ten minutes on the clock.
Elizabethtown then outscored the Eagles 21-12 in the fourth quarter, with five of the 12 Juniata points coming from Emily McCann. The final score stood at 78-51.
Bodtorf ended the day with a team-best 15 points, while she and Coolidge each led the team with eight rebounds apiece. Emert hit a pair of three-pointers and three more shots inside the line for 12 total. Sherman collected nine points, including two threes. McCann led in bench points, with all five coming in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles fall to 1-2 in Landmark Conference play with 11 more games to be played.
The Juniata women's basketball team swiftly returns to the court to take on Moravian in Bethlehem at 2:00 pm on Friday.