CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – What looked like it might turn into a Juniata College blowout became a neck-and-neck affair before the Eagles finally outlasted Widener University, 68-63, in the first round of the Starter's Pub DeSales University women's basketball Tip-Off Tournament at Billera Gym.

The Eagles held a 40-29 lead at the intermission on the strength of their 46.4% (13-of-28) shooting from the field in opening half, while defensively holding Widener to a 9-of-34 shooting performance.

However Juniata (2-0) hit just five field goals in the second half, including a 0-of-5 mark from three-point range after going 7-of-9 beyond the arc in the first half.

Meanwhile, trigger-happy Widener jacked up 43 attempts in the second half alone – eclipsing the Eagles' game tally of 42 field goal attempts – but connected on just 12 of those. The Pride shot 27.3% for the game (21-of-77), including a 2-of-19 ledger from three-point range.

Juniata held a lead that bounced between one-and-two possessions for much of the second stanza, until Francesca Lee's layup with 3:52 remaining knotted the game at 59-59. Ashton Bankos (York, Pa./York Catholic) answered with a layup, one of her six field goals on the night leading to a game-high 22 points, on the Eagles' next trip up the floor.

About a minute later, Bankos potted a pair of free throws to put Juniata up 63-59, and a Jordan Hileman (Williamsburg, Pa./Williamsburg) jumper with 1:52 showing on the clock stretched the Eagles' lead to six points.

The teams traded a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds of the game, and a layup by Widener's Joanna Persiano with seven seconds remaining was not enough to pull the Pride to within striking distance.

Juniata twice turned a single-point lead into a double-digit advantage in the first half. Leading 13-12 at the 12:01 mark of the opening half, the Eagles picked up five straight points from Glinsky and five more from Meagan Raville (McSherrystown, Pa./Delone Catholic) in a 12-0 run lasting three minutes.

Widener answered with a 12-0 run of its own, cutting the margin to 25-24 on a Persiano trey at the 4:33 mark. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Hileman led to a seven-point Juniata lead exactly a minute later, and the Eagles pulled stretched that to an 11-point lead by the end of the half.

Bankos dished out six assists and led four Eagles in double digits. Hileman finished with 14 points, while Jordan Speck (Huntingdon, Pa./Southern Huntingdon) and Natalie Glinsky (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) tallied 11 and 10 points respectively. 

Sophomore Kate McDonald (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa./State College Area) hauled down a game-high 12 rebounds, leading a Juniata squad that matched Widener with 43 rebounds.  The Eagles were outworked 24 to nine on the offensive glass, but the Pride was unable to take advantage to full advantage and had just 16 second-chance points to the Eagles' 11.

Juniata shot 42.9% (18-of-42) from the floor for the game, and held their lead with a 25-of-31 (.806) effort at the free-throw line. 

Widener (0-2) was led by Lil Carney with 16 points, with Kate Dellinger completing the list of the Pride's double-figure scorers with 12 points to go with a team-high nine boards.

Juniata will face the host squad from DeSales in Saturday's championship game at 3:00 p.m.

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