MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – Juniata College women's basketball clinched its third consecutive season-opener win Tuesday night on the road against Penn State Harrisburg in an 82-51 blowout.
Five Eagles reached double digits in points, led by senior Ashton Bankos (York, Pa./York Catholic) with 15, the most of any player on the court. Junior Alyssia Gordon (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove), who earned a double-double in the contest, wasn't far behind with 13 points, as she sunk five of her eight shots from the field and went 3-of-4 in foul shots. Gordon also posted 10 rebounds, eight of which were defensive, to lead the Juniata rebounding effort.
Senior Meagan Raville (McSherrystown, Pa./Delone Catholic) dumped in 12 points, as she went 5-of-11 for field goals and 2-of-7 from the three-point line. Next in line for points was junior Natalie Glinsky (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) who logged 11, followed by sophomore Kate McDonald (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa./State College Area) who racked up 10 accompanied by six steals.
The Eagles captured an early lead, only allowing the Lions to score two points in the first seven minutes of the contest. Juniata (1-0) continued to increase the score deficit throughout the first half and headed in the second 20 minutes of play leading Penn State Harrisburg (0-1) 38-26.
Juniata continued to widen the points gap in the second half, including a 10-0 point Juniata run between the 32nd and 36th minute, that ended with Juniata holding a 76-43 lead.
Penn State Harrisburg's leading scorer was Monet Cunningham who put-up 12 points, followed closely by teammate Stephanie Yetter with 11 points.
The Lions posted a 33.3 shooting percentage from the floor and 63 percent from the line, while the Eagles put away 43.1 percent of their shots from the field and shot for an impressive 87.5 percent from the foul line, only missing on three of their 24 foul shot attempts.
Juniata will travel this Friday, Nov. 18, to DeSales University for a weekend tournament. The Eagles will first take-on Widener University Friday night at 8:00.
-30-
