By: Jennifer Jones
Director of Sports Information
jonesj@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Juniata College women's basketball team had their backs against the wall and their season on the line at the beginning of February. Sitting at 2-7 in the conference, the Eagles needed to win out the remainder of the season in order to have chance at making their seventh consecutive Landmark Conference Tournament. Juniata has never missed a dance in the Landmark and their two seniors made sure the streak continued. The Eagles face No. 1 seed University of Scranton in the 2014 Landmark semifinals on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Series History
This is the 40th meeting all-time since the programs began competing in the 1975-76 season. Juniata trails the all-time series but has seen success under Head Coach Danny Young-Uhrich in recent years. The Eagles have gone 6-3 against Scranton since the 2010-11 season.
Streaking to the Dance
Juniata's run began with a 56-53 upset of No. 3 seed Moravian on the Greyhounds biggest home game of the year. They then survived a 68-64 overtime win at Goucher before returning home to rout Merchant Marine 80-40 on senior day. In the final week of the season, Juniata found itself in a three-way tie with Susquehanna and Drew, its last two opponents of the regular season. The Eagles erased a 17-point first half deficit to knock Susquehanna out of the postseason in their last home game of the season. It all came down to their matchup with Drew. Despite a slow start, Juniata held onto a small lead and pushed their way into the playoffs. Both the Drew and Susquehanna games were decided by only three points each, respectively.
Taking the Lead
Seniors Kate McDonald (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa./State College Area) and Jordan Hileman (Williamsburg, Pa./Williamsburg) have been helping steer the Eagles into the playoffs. Over the course of the past five games, the pair not only lead the team in minute, but combined for 36 assists and 22 steals. McDonald has averaged a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds per game and Hileman has been deadly at the free throw line dropping 92 percent of her shots.
Last Meetings
Scranton 75 • Juniata 57
Saturday, January 11, 2014 • Scranton, Pa. • 4:25 p.m.
Sophomore Paige Dennison (East Berlin, Pa./Bermudian Springs) finished with a team-high 15 points going a career-best 13-for-16 from the free throw line. McDonald and Hileman also netted double figure points. McDonald earned her third straight double-double, 10th of the season, with 12 points and 10 boards, also grabbing a game-high six steals. Hileman put in 11 points of her own, respectively, with seven rebounds.
Scranton 76 • Juniata 52
Saturday, February 1, 2014 • Huntingdon, Pa. • 4 p.m.
The Eagles were led by freshman Olivia Halfpenny (McVeytown, Pa./Mifflin County). She finished with a team-high 12 points. Hileman and Dennison also earned double-figure points, dropping 11 and 10 points, respectively.
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