HUNTINGDON, Pa. – No. 13 Juniata women's basketball took the Moravian Greyhounds for a walk through the park as the Eagles captured a dominating 77-55 win Friday night in Kennedy Sports and Recreation Center.
Moravian managed to keep the contest fairly close during most of the first 20 minutes of play as Juniata (16-1, 6-0 Landmark) was only leading by a mere six points with six minutes left in the half. But all of Juniata's shots seemed to start falling as the Eagles tore up the floor and went on a 15-6 scoring spree in the last six minutes of the stanza.
Junior Alyssia Gordon (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove), tied for the night's leading scorer with 15 points, got the ball rolling during the spree with a pair of jumpers that extend the Eagles' lead to 30-28. Following a pair of Moravian (10-7, 3-3 Landmark) foul shots and a good 3-pointer, freshman Kelsey Livoti (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) proved that the Juniata lead was here to stay with a textbook layup assisted by junior Jordan Speck (Huntingdon, Pa./Southern Huntingdon). Livoti struck again, this time from 3-point range, after sophomore Jordan Hileman (Williamsburg, Pa./Williamsburg) threw up a jumper from beyond the arc. Hileman beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-point shot from the corner to give Juniata its largest lead of the game thus far with the score at 41-26.
The Eagles broke open the second half business as usual and charted 13 points to Moravian's two in the first five minutes. Of those 13 points, sophomore Kate McDonald (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa./State College Area) owned nine with three layups, a jumper and a single foul shot. Gordon scored the other four marks by draining two layups.
After the run, Juniata found itself leading the Greyhounds by an impressive 27 points with the score at 57-30, the largest lead the Eagles would have in the contest.
Not only was the Eagles' shooting impressive, .476 percent from the field and .857 from the charity stripe, but there is a lot to be said about the rebounding clinic Juniata handed Moravian.
Juniata finished the night with 45 boards compared to the Greyhounds' 27 rebounds. Heading the rebounding effort was none other than the Landmark Conference's top rebounder, McDonald who brought down a game high seven boards. A strong rebounding effort proved to be an invaluable asset to the Eagles, as they earned 17 second chance points in the game.
McDonald tied Gordon for points in the contest with 15, while senior Meagan Raville (McSherrystown, Pa./Delone Catholic) and Hileman each tallied 11. Freshman Alix Sellars (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon Area) tied her season high eight points against the Greyhounds.
The win marks Juniata's 10th home victory of 19 against Moravian and boosts the Eagles' overall record versus the Greyhounds to 14-26.
Juniata remains at Kennedy S+RC for another Landmark contest against the University of Scranton on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
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