(Posted February 11, 2011)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Juniata College women's basketball moved into sole possession of second place in the Landmark Conference with a 76-61 win over visiting Moravian College, Friday night at the Kennedy Sports + Recreation Center.

Juniata improved to 10-2 in Landmark play with the victory, and improved its overall mark to 17-6. Moravian dropped into third place in the Landmark standings with a 9-3 conference ledger, and saw its overall record fall to 14-9.

The Eagles outshot the Greyhounds from the field and from beyond the arc, and outscored Moravian at the line.

Juniata shot 43.9 percent (29-66) from the floor over 40 minutes, including a 14-of-30 (.467) field goal percentage in the opening half, against a Moravian squad that was ranked second in the league in field goal percentage defense coming into Friday night's contest. The Eagles were 6-of-15 (.400) from three-point range, and converted 12 of their 17 opportunities at the charity stripe.

Moravian put up a .417 (25-of-60) field goal percentage, and the Greyhounds were held to just 3-of-11 shooting (.273) from past the three-point line.

Juniata freshman Kate McDonald (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa./State College Area) led the Eagles with 19 points to go with a team-high nine rebounds and five steals, while senior Jen Hnatuck (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) had 18 points and eight boards. Point guard Ashton Bankos (York, Pa./York Catholic) had eight points, four steals, and was one of four players to dish out three assists.

Meagan Raville (McSherrystown, Pa./Delone Catholic) and Paige Robertson (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area) each chipped in nine points for Juniata off the bench.

Moravian had three players score in double figures, led by senior Emily Smith with 20 points on 10-of-18 shooting. Alexandra Blair and Amy Heffner had 14 and 10 points respectively.

The Eagles were forced to fight off a second-half rally by the Greyhounds, after Moravian tied the game at 43-43 with 13:35 remaining following a pair of jumpers by Blair and Smith.

A Jordan Hileman (Williamsburg, Pa./Williamsburg) jumper put Juniata back in front by two points, and after the squads traded two-point buckets Hileman drained a three-pointer to stretch the Eagles' lead to 50-45.

Juniata's lead was back down to three points, 60-57, with 4:44 showing on the clock, when a 10-0 run lasting four-and-a-half minutes put the game away for the Eagles. McDonald jump-started the Eagle surge and scored six points during the run, with Robertson contributing the remaining two.

The Eagles kept the Greyhounds at bay with an 8-of-9 performance at the free-throw line over the final two minutes of the contest.

Juniata returns to the hardwood on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m., when it hosts the University of Scranton.

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