HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata women's basketball team tried to mount a rally, but Goucher made their free throws down the stretch as the Eagles lost, 71-67, Wednesday evening inside Memorial Gymnasium on 34thAnnual National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
The Gophers scored the first six points of the game before Cassie Mock (Martinsburg, Pa. / Central Martinsburg) swished a three from the left corner off a pass from Grace Long (Harrisburg, Pa. / Central Dauphin). After a stop, Mock drove from the left-wing and laid it in off the glass. The Gophers countered with an and-one, Cassidy Arnold (York, Pa. / Eastern York HS) scored on a putback, and Gracie Stauffer (Loysville, Pa. / West Perry) scored off a pass from Mock to knot things at 9-9.=
Goucher led 15-11 with two and half minutes to go, before a Stauffer putback and a Long three off a pass from Mock pushed JC ahead by one. The Gophers nailed a three from the wing with 30 seconds to go in the first before Madison Colyer (Newville, Pa. / Big Spring) drilled a jumper from the foul line off a pass from Arnold.
The teams traded threes to open the second, with Arnold drilling two straight from the left-wing for the Eagles as Colyer assisted the first while Averie Hess (Jersey Shore, Pa. / Jersey Shore) assisted the second.
Goucher pushed ahead by one, 25-24, with five minutes to go in the half. The teams traded makes down the final few minutes of the half, with the Gophers scoring the last bucket of the half as they led 29-28 at halftime.
Goucher opened with a layup, and Larissa Leonard (Three Springs, Pa. / Southern Huntingdon) nailed a three in the right corner off a pass from Colyer to knot things at 31-31. Colyer stole the ball; the Eagles raced up the floor, she got it back on the elbow and tossed a bounce pass to a cutting Long who used her left hand to lay it in off the glass to make it 33-31.
The team traded the lead back and forth over the next few minutes, with a steal and a layup by Arnold giving the Eagles a three-point lead, 40-37 with just under six minutes to in the quarter. Goucher retook the lead two minutes later with two free throws, 41-40.
Colyer converted a jumper off a pass from Stauffer to bring Juniata within two, 43-42. The Gophers closed the quarter on a 13-4 run as they led 53-46 heading into the final period.
Goucher led by as many as nine in the quarter, but the Eagles managed to narrow the deficit to four, 61-57 with a pair of Hess foul shots with under four minutes to go in the game. On the ensuing inbound by Goucher, Mock and Long doubled in the corner to force the turnover. Mock threw it to long who took it in and laid it up to bring JC within two.
Goucher made four straight foul shots while the Eagles struggled to score, with two Arnold foul shots making it 65-61 with a minute and a half to play. The teams traded misses, with Juniata missing twice on their possession, before Leonard drew a foul. Leonard made both, the Eagles fouled, and the Gophers made both, and Juniata called timeout. Following the timeout, Mock lobbed it from the left side to Colyer, who drew the defense as she was cutting down the right side of the paint, and she touch passed it to Stauffer on the left side who laid it in. Juniata fouled again, and again Goucher made both foul shots. Stauffer returned the favor on the other end, finding Colyer for an elbow jumper, but Goucher made two more foul shots with 17 seconds to go in the game, and Juniata couldn't get any closer.
Juniata held a 48-35 edge on the glass, but the Gophers shot better from the field, 40.4% to 33.8%.
The Eagles will travel to play Moravian, Saturday at 4:00.
