Big Second Half Catapults Eagles Past Gophers
HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata women's basketball team had a big second half to pull away from visiting Goucher, 69-49, Sunday evening inside Memorial Gymnasium.
Bri Bodtorf totaled 16 points with seven rebounds, three assists, five steals and a block. Haily Sherman tallied 15 points, 12 rebounds, and an assist, while Dani Scipioni amassed nine points, four rebounds, and an assist off the bench.
Bodtorf caught the ball on the right wing off an inbound pass from Olivia Berg and drilled a three to open the scoring for Juniata.
A pair of Kennedy Miller foul shots and Sherman jumper off a Bodtorf assist brought the Eagles within three, 10-7. A Sherman high-arcing shot near the rim cut the deficit down to one.
The Gophers kept the Eagles at bay with a Steph Emert steal and layup on the other end, making it 16-13 after one.
Emert found Bodtorf on a skip pass on the left wing, and she swished a three to make it 19-18. Emert's foul shot tied things at 19 with just under seven to go in the half.
The teams went scoreless for several minutes before Sarah Betts scored inside to give the Eagles their first lead.
A Scipioni three from near the top of the key from Betts had the Eagles up five with three to go in the half.
A Gopher flurry in the final minute brought them back within two, 28-26, as the Eagles headed to the locker room with a narrow lead.
Goucher scored the opening bucket of the second half, a three, and the Eagles responded with an 8-0 run. Bodtorf scored after poking the ball away in the backcourt, Miller found Sherman for a layup, Scipioni scored on a putback, and finally, Bodtorf made a pair of free throws.
In the final seconds of the third quarter, Aleya Eisenberg got the ball on the right, pump-faked to force a defender to fly by her, took one dribble inside the arc, and splashed a jumper to put the Eagles up nine, 48-39.
Juniata opened the fourth with a 9-2 run over the first four and half minutes to open up a 16-point lead and coasted the rest of the way to win 69-49.
The Eagles dominated on the glass, 56-31, and the JC bench supplied a lot more scoring than the Gophers, 27-9.
Juniata returns to action this Friday when they host Drew, Friday at 4:00.