Dan Sherman
Asst. SID
Juniata
814-641-3513
Huntingdon, Pa., The Juniata College women's basketball team hosted the Elizabethtown Blue Jays to open Landmark Conference competition on Wednesday night. The Eagles suffered their first Landmark loss of the season, falling to the now 4-0 Blue Jays 80-61 in Memorial Gymnasium.
Danielle Atkinson (Lancaster, PA / Lancaster Catholic) led the Eagles with 11 points. Natalie Hager (Franklin, PA / Franklin) and Kelsey Livoti (Altoona, PA / Bishop Guilfoyle) trailed her with nine. Atkinson had a team high three assists, adding two steals. Hager led the team with 7 boards, coming up with three steals, and dishing out an assist. Livoti added a steal, an assist, and three rebounds.
The Eagles outshot their opponents, shooting 47.1% from the field compared to Elizabethtown's 46.9%, and 33.3% to 27.3% from beyond the arch. Despite shooting well, the team continued to let ball control be a factor. Elizabethtown scored 26 points off of Eagles turnovers.
Juniata took an early lead less than three minutes into the game when Livoti drained a jump shot and made the awarded free throw to complete the three-point play and giver her team a 8-6 advantage. The Eagles could not hold the edge as the Blue Jays went on an 11-point run and never looked back, building the lead to 52-34 at the break. Elizabethtown continued to dominate in the second half and cruised to its fourth straight win to start the season.
With the loss, Juniata moves to 1-5 on the season, 0-1 against Landmark opponents. The Eagles will face a tough opponent on Saturday, as they travel to Scranton to take on the Royals. Scranton is currently ranked 6th in the nation and owns a perfect 5-0 record. Tip-off is set for 2:00 pm.
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