(Posted February 22, 2005)

Huntingdon, PA - Juniata College freshman forward Jess Winemiller (Dallastown/York) has been named second-team All-Commonwealth Conference in women's basketball as selected by the conference's eight head coaches. Winemiller was also selected as the Commonwealth Rookie of the Year, the first Juniata player to earn that honor since the 1998-1999 campaign.

Winemiller finished her freshman season as Juniata's leading scorer as she scored 14.3 points per game. She also ranked second on the team in rebounding grabbing 6.0 rebounds per game, while also leading the team in steals with 57. She shot 48-percent from the field in her inaugural season which ranked second on the team, and her three-point field goal percentage of 42-percent was tops on the Eagle squad. She closed the season ranked fourth in the Commonwealth Conference in scoring, fourth in steals, seventh in field goal percentage and 14th in rebounding, She also averaged a team-high 33.1 minutes per game.

Winemiller kicked off her career by scoring 18 points in Juniata's first game of the season. The effort was the first of 19 double-digit scoring performances for the Eagle freshman, as she reached double figures in all but four games in which she appeared. She recorded three "double-doubles" on the season as she scored 17 points with 10 rebounds against Waynesburg, recorded 18 points and 10 boards in a win over Thiel and had 13 points and a season-high 13 rebounds versus Lebanon Valley.

Her first collegiate season saw her top the 20-point plateau on four occasions, three of them Commonwealth Conference games. She reached 20 for the first time with a 23-point, seven-rebound effort at home against Messiah on November 30, then bettered that total in her next game as she scored a season-high 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds at Widener. She added a 23-point effort against Elizabethtown and scored 20 points in a Juniata win over York. She also recorded a season-best six steals against both Elizabethtown and York, which were two of the 13 occasions in which she posted at least two thefts.

Juniata finished with a 5-19 overall record in Winemiller's first season. The Eagles had no seniors on the roster this season, and will therefore be returning its entire team. Along with Winemiller Juniata had five freshman earn considerable playing time in 2004-05 and should see that experience begin paying off next year.

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