By: Jennifer Jones
Director of Sports Information
jonesj@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Juniata College women's basketball team battled tough Wednesday night but fell 67-59 on the road to Landmark Conference rival Catholic University. Juniata (7-7, 0-3 Landmark) is now 6-10 all-time against the Cardinals who improved to 10-3 (3-0 Landmark) on the season with the win.
Senior Kate McDonald (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa./State College Area) led the Eagles in points and rebounds. She finished with 17 and grabbed 13 for her fourth straight double-double, 11th of the season. Fellow senior Jordan Hileman (Williamsburg, Pa./Williamsburg) and sophomore Paige Dennison (East Berlin, Pa./Bermudian Springs) also finished in double-figures, netting 10 points each, respectively.
Catholic jumped out 5-0 to start the game, before the Eagles went on a 12-2 run to take the lead on an and-1 play by McDonald. The teams would then battle back and forth, but Catholic held Juniata to just one point in the final 6:30 of the half to regain the lead 39-23 at the break.
Juniata came out on fire in the second half. McDonald sparked an 11-0 run that was capped off by a layup from junior Kelsey Livoti (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle), forcing a Cardinal timeout just three minutes into the second half with the score 39-31, Catholic. They would score after the timeout, but Juniata continued to push, closing the gap and tying it up 43-43 with 13:10 on the clock.
The Cardinals were able to push the lead back out to 10 with 4:30 to play and Juniata continued to battle. They would force it down to a five point differential with under 90 seconds left, but could not break in closer as Catholic held on for the win.
The Eagles finally return home this Saturday to take on Drew University and are looking for their first Landmark win of the season in a doubleheader with the men. Juniata is 11-1 all-time against the Rangers. It's a matchup that dates back to the 1975-76 season. The Eagles came away with a 96-48 win the last time they faced Drew at home.
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