(Posted November 19, 2010)

WESTMINSTER, Md. -- Three Eagles scored in double-figures to lead Juniata College women's basketball to a 68-60 win over Widener University, in Friday night's second game of the McDaniel College Tip-Off Tournament.

Juniata (2-0) advances into Saturday's tournament championship game against ninth-ranked Kean University, which is scheduled to tip-off at 3:00 p.m.

Freshman forward Kate McDonald (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa./State College Area) poured in 17 for Juniata on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, followed by senior forward Jen Hnatuck (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) with 14 points. Senior Erin McGinley (Ashland, Pa./Tri-Valley) chipped in with 10 points off the bench, with a 4-of-7 performance from the field.

To post the win over Widener (2-1) however, Juniata had to come back from a massive first half deficit.

The Eagles trailed by as many as 11 points, 21-10, with under 10 minutes remaining the first half, when they began chiseling away at the Widener lead. Juniata hit two of its three 3-pointers in the latter stages of the opening frame, and had the deficit chopped down to four points, 34-30, at the intermission.

Juniata finally caught up with Widener early in the second half, when a Paige Robertson (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area) trey made the score 35-35 at the 17:40 mark. The Pride regained a 37-35 lead on a Joanna Periano jumper, but that proved to be the last bucker Widener would make for the next five minutes.

A pair of Hnatuck four shots tied the game at 37-37, and launched a 12-0 Juniata run that resulted in the Eagles taking a 47-37 lead with just over 12 minutes showing on the second half clock. Hnatuck and McDonald each had a pair of layups during the run, with Alyssia Gordon (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) adding a jumper.

Widener attempted to rally on the Eagles, but were unable to closer than six points before Juniata would recover and extend its lead back into double-digits. The Eagles' lead reached its widest at 63-46 at the 5:58 mark of the second half on a McDonald layup, and the final score was cut to single-digits only due to a Francesca Lee 3-pointer in the waning seconds.

Widener also had three players finish in double-figures, led by guard Lil Carney with 19 points on 7-of-19 shooting from the floor. Lee logged a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards, while Persiano finished with 10 points.

-30-

Our readers respond...

Be the first to provide a response.

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