HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata college women's basketball team pulled away late as they defeated Misericordia, 70-58, Wednesday evening.
Morgan Instone (Johnstown, Pa./Bishop McCort) had 18 points, eight rebounds and six blocks. Veronica Cosmopolis (Lima, Peru/Colegio Carmelitas) had 11 points, five rebounds and four steals while Lexey Shick (Rimersburg, Pa./Union) added 11 points off the bench.
The first quarter saw both offenses struggle to get going, as neither team shot above 25% from the field. Both teams scored over half of their points at the charity stripe as the Cougars led 15-11 through the first period.
Juniata began to find their shooting stroke in the second quarter, as they shot 60% from three and 44% from the floor. JC held MU to 4-17 shooting from the floor. Shick drilled two threes for the Eagles during the period as they tallied 23 points and led 34-28 at half time.
The third was a back and forth affair, as Misericordia got hot from the field as they shot 50% from the floor and 40% from three and by the end of the quarter had pulled within three. With five seconds left, inbounding under their own hoop, Shick hit Instone for a layup before the buzzer as the Eagles went into the fourth up, 53-48.
The teams traded buckets early, and with six and half minutes left, the Cougars scored via a layup to get within three at 57-54. Buckets from Bethany Spencer (York, Pa./York Suburban), Rachael Anstine (York, Pa./Dallastown) and Cosmopolis pushed the lead to back to nine. The Cougars pulled within five with just over two minutes remaining, but the Eagle defense got stops and finished the game at the foul line. JC went 7-8 at the foul line down the stretch to ice the game.
Juniata will open Landmark play against Scranton, Saturday at 2:00.