SELINSGROVE, Pa.- The Juniata women's basketball team fell on the road in their season finale at Susquehanna, 68-61, Saturday afternoon.
Gracie Stauffer (Loysville, Pa. / West Perry) opened the scoring with a layup off a pass from Cassie Mock (Martinsburg, Pa. / Central Martinsburg). The teams traded buckets with Stauffer scoring inside again off a Larissa Leonard (Three Springs, Pa. / Southern Huntingdon) assist and a midrange jumper. But the River Hawks kept scoring while JC went cold for the next five minutes, with Cassidy Arnold's (York, Pa. / Eastern York HS) layup off an Abigail E'Nama (Lewes, Del. / Cape Henlopen HS) assist making it 17-8. Two Mock foul shots made it 22-10, and the River Hawks tacked on one more foul shot as the Eagles trailed by 13 after one.
A Stauffer layup and a Kymiah Carpenter (Baltimore, Md. / Gerstell Academy) three sliced the deficit to single digits in the first two minutes of the second quarter. Susquehanna countered with a little flurry of their own to push the lead back to double digits and led by as many as 15 before Stauffer's layup made it 33-20 with two minutes to go in the half. Grace Long (Harrisburg, Pa. / Central Dauphin) drilled a triple after grabbing an offensive rebound to bring JC within 10, but Susquehanna nailed a jumper as they led by 12 at halftime.
Stauffer's three midway through the third of a Long pass, followed by a Leonard layup made it 42-34 with six minutes to go in the third. The River Hawks answered with a three; Long drilled a three of her own off a Madison Colyer (Newville, Pa. / Big Spring) assist, and another Stauffer bucket in the paint pulled the Eagles within six. In the final 30 seconds, two Stauffer free throws made it 48-44, as JC trailed by four heading into the fourth.
Leonard's triple pulled JC within one, and the teams traded points for several minutes until Long's three knotted thing at 52-52 with a little under six minutes to go in the game. Juniata continued to hang close, and a Colyer jumper made it 62-58 with three minutes remaining. The Eagles forced a turnover and called timeout. Colyer found Stauffer for a bucket inside that made it 62-60, but the River Hawks closed the game on a 6-1 run as the Eagles couldn't keep pace.
Juniata closes the year at 5-20 (2-12).