THE HEADLINE: With an offensive surge in the second quarter, Juniata secured their eighth win of the season with a 68-48 victory over Swarthmore College at the Gettysburg Holiday Tournament.
STARTERS:
5 Bethany Spencer (York, Pa./York Suburban)
21 Katy Leamer (Altoona, Pa./Bellwood-Antis)
22 Bailey Swogger (Tyrone, Pa./Bellwood-Antis)
30 Dani Atkinson (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Catholic)
42 Kelly Leamer (Altoona, Pa./Bellwood-Antis)
FIRST HALF: With Swarthmore putting themselves on the board first, Juniata had to play catch up through the first quarter. After a foul on Suzy Badorf-England (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg), the Garnet earned a four-point lead with a pair of free throws.
On the Eagles' possession, Veronica Cosmopolis (Lima, Peru/Colegio Carmelitas) pulled down the offensive rebound; England capitalized their second chance with a layup. Down 8-6, Swarthmore drove to the hoop and regained the four-point lead.
Starting with Morgan Instone (Johnstown, Pa./Bishop McCort), Juniata chipped their way back with a 5-1 run. With 12 seconds left in the quarter, the Garnet sunk a three-pointer, taking a 14-11 lead. With the clock down to three seconds left, Cosmopolis tied the game at 14 with a three-pointer of her own.
Tied at 14 at the beginning of the second quarter, Swogger drew a foul on her offensive rebound. She made one of two free throws, giving the Eagles' a one-point lead. From there, Juniata went on to outscore Swarthmore 20-5 in the second quarter. Atkinson (6), Instone (4), Kaitlyn Young (4), Swogger (4) and Cosmopolis (3) all contributed to Juniata's dominant second quarter.
The Eagles went into halftime with a 35-19 lead over Swarthmore.
SECOND HALF: Kelly Leamer kept the momentum going after the break with a three-pointer to start the second half. After her three, Swarthmore tacked on six with a layup and two fouls called on the Eagles.
Swogger ended Juniata's two, scoreless minutes with a free throw. Sarah Sherman continued the offensive dominance with a put-back. The third quarter ended with the Eagles ahead 55-34. The full-team scoring in the period was led by Young's (Mount Ephraim, N.J./Audubon) four points and Atkinson's four points.
Behind Katy Leamer's seven points in the fourth quarter, Juniata won the game 68-48.
21-5 RUN: Juniata's 21-5 second quarter was pivotal in the Eagles' 20-point victory over the Swarthmore Garnet. In that period, the Eagles averaged 36.8% from the field, making seven of their 19 attempts, and shot 40% from behind the three-point line.
Swarthmore, on the other hand, made only one of their 18 attempts in the field, while three points came from the foul line.
Additionally, Juniata forced eight Swarthmore turnovers in the period.
ALL-TOURNAMENT: Atkinson was named to the Gettysburg Holiday Tournament All-Tournament team. The junior guard scored 12 points in both contests at Gettysburg and totaled five rebounds and three assists overall.
WHAT'S NEXT?: Coming off of this 20-point victory, the Eagles will face Landmark-rival Catholic at home on Saturday, Jan. 7. The women are scheduled to tip off at 2 p.m., followed by the men at 4 p.m.