GENESEO, NY- Juniata trailed Geneseo 21-17 at halftime but the Knights went on a 20-7 run to start the second half on their way to a 64-47 win on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles' record now stands at 1-3 while Geneseo improves to 2-1.
Kelsey Livoti (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) led all scorers with 16 points and also came down with seven rebounds. Rachel Anstine (York, PA/Dallastown) scored eight points and pulled down five rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench.
The beginning of the first half was a defensive battle as the first basket was not scored until 1:56 in on a layup from the Knights' Lia Sobieraski. Danielle Atkinson's (Lancaster, PA/Lancaster Catholic) jump shot at 16:13 tied it up at 2-2.
Geneseo led 13-9 for nearly four minutes of game time until Brittany Spencer's (York, PA/York Suburban) basket at 4:29 started a 6-2 run for the Eagles that tied that game at 15-all with just over two minutes left in the half. A three-point shot from Geneseo's Dana Cohan followed by a free throw from Allison McKenna gave the Knights a four-point advantage. Two free throws from Livoti narrowed the Juniata deficit to two, 19-17, with 41 ticks on the clock until the Knight's Kara Houppert scored with time winding down to make it 21-17 at the half.
After the Knights went up 24-17 early in the second frame, Livoti's basket at 18:26 got the Eagles to within 24-19. It was as close as JC would get as Geneseo embarked on its game-changing run. A 6-0 run by the Eagles, with the entire scoring coming from Anstine, chipped the Knight lead to 50-39 with 6:39 remaining in the game.
After a four-game road trip to begin the season, the Eagles host their home opener on Tuesday night against St. Vincent. Game time from Memorial Gymnasium will be at 5:30 p.m.