(Posted January 8, 2005)

Juniata 71, Thiel 55

Greenville, Pa. ? Four times this season the Juniata College women?s basketball team has scored 70 points in regulation. Each of those times the Eagles have won. The most recent came Saturday night as the Eagles (4-8) snapped a three-game losing skid with a 71-55 victory over Thiel in Greenville.

Jess Winemiller (Dallastown/York) posted a ?double-double? for the second time in three games as she scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Juniata. Kristen Kirk (Newport/Newport) added 17 and Mindy Werner (West York/York) chipped in 14.

Kristen Benjamin had a game-high 22 points for Thiel (4-11), while Fontella Jones added 11 points and eight rebounds.

After falling behind early in each of its past three games, the Eagles turned the tables with a strong first half. A jumper from Winemiller at the 11:26 mark sparked an 11-2 Juniata run which put the Eagles in front by nine. Thiel answered with six unanswered points to get back within three, only to see Juniata close with a 10-2 run to take an 11-point lead into the locker room.

Juniata?s offense was even sharper in the second half as the Blue and Gold shot nearly 60-percent from the field, and poured in 39 points in the final 20 minutes. Thiel made an early run in the opening five minutes of the second half, climbing within five with 15:48 left in the game. Juniata responded, and put the game out of reach by scoring 13 unanswered points to take an 18-point advantage. Werner scored six points during the run, which made the score 51-33 Juniata with 11:17 left.

The Eagles made a living at the foul line in the second half, knocking down 13 of 17 free throws as Thiel got no closer than 12 in the final 10 minutes.

Juniata will return to action on Wednesday when the Eagles get back into conference play with a road game against Elizabethtown.

JUNIATA (71): Meckey 1 0-0 2, Walsh 0 0-0 0, Kirk 8 0-2 17, Winemiller 7 4-6 18, O?Brien 3 0-0 6, Callas 2 2-2 6, Rhoads 1 0-0 2, Werner 3 8-11 14, Snoby 2 2-3 6. Totals ? 27 16-24 71

THIEL (55): McCoy 0 0-0 0, Abate 2 2-4 7, Valentino, 1 4-6 6, Jones 5 1-2 11, Benjamin 9 4-4 22, Rodriguez 0 0-0 0, Venesky 3 1-2 7, Akele 0 0-1 0, Siko 0 0-2 0, Schrecongost 0 0-0 0, Streeter 1 0-0 2. Totals ? 21 12-21 55

Halftime: Juniata 32-21. 3-point goals: Juniata 1 (Kirk); Thiel 1 (Abate). Assists: Juniata 7 (Meckey, Snoby 2); Thiel 15 (Abate 8). Rebounds: Juniata 40 (Winemiller 10); Thiel 36 (Jones 8).

Records: Juniata (4-8); Thiel (4-11).

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Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.