BETHLEHEM, Pa.- The Juniata women's basketball team gave Moravian everything they could handle but couldn't quite get the win as they lost on the road in the Landmark Tournament Play-in game 73-69, Tuesday evening inside Johnston Hall.
Gracie Stauffer (Loysville, Pa. / West Perry) scored the game's opening points off a feed from Cassie Mock (Martinsburg, Pa. / Central Martinsburg) on the first possession of the game. The Greyhounds countered with a layup; on the other end, Averie Hess (Jersey Shore, Pa. / Jersey Shore) threw it into Stauffer on the right block. She turned past her defender and took a dribble before laying it in with her left hand. Stauffer scored again, off another Mock assist, to make it 6-2 JC in the first two minutes.
The Greyhounds scored again, but they couldn't stop Stauffer early as Kynnedy Miller (Huntingdon, Pa. / Huntingdon Area HS) tossed her the ball over the defense and Stauffer finished through contact.
Her free throw made it 9-4. The Greyhounds narrowed the gap to 9-8 before Jamie Mahigel (Lewistown, Pa. / Mifflin County) swung the ball to Mock in the left corner, and her shot hit most of the rim and glanced off the backboard before going in.
Following another stop, Miller found Taylor Vrabel (Chambersburg, Pa. / Chambersburg) down low for another Eagle bucket in the paint to push the lead to six. Moravian got within two again before Grace Long (Harrisburg, Pa. / Central Dauphin) came off a screen and drilled a triple a few steps behind the line to make it 17-12 with a little over two minutes to play. Moravian would eventually take their first lead in the final 12 seconds on a pair of foul shots. Juniata came down the other end; Mock drove into the paint and kicked it out to Miller, who swished a three as the buzzer sounded to make it 20-19 JC after one.
The second quarter saw Moravian start to find a rhythm offensively as Juniata fell behind in the first two minutes before a Madison Colyer (Newville, Pa. / Big Spring) three from the top of the key made it 27-25.
Another Colyer bucket, this time a jumper from the right-wing, doubled the lead. Juniata got another stop, with Colyer corralling the ball and sprinting up the floor. She drove into the teeth of the defense before kicking the ball to Mock in the left corner for two more to push the lead to six, 31-25, and the Greyhounds called timeout.
Juniata maintained the six-point lead for the rest of the half, with a pair of Stauffer free throws, making it 35-27 with 18 seconds to play in the half. But Moravian took their turn with a buzzer-beater, with a putback in the final two seconds, making it 35-29 at the half.
The third quarter opened with a Colyer triple off a Long assist, but the Greyhounds responded and would eventually pull even at 42-42 with a little over five minutes remaining. From that point, Moravian went on a 14-7 run over the next few minutes, as Long's three from the top of the key brought the Eagles within five 56-51, with 23 seconds to go in the third.
Moravian got the last word in again, as a floater from 10 feet out at the buzzer made the deficit for the Eagles seven, 58-51, heading into the fourth.
The Eagles cut the deficit to three on a Stauffer put-back and Hess jumper from the right side after Stauffer passed it to her out of a double team.
Juniata got within one after a putback by Colyer and a layup from Stauffer, but back-to-back Greyhound jumpers made it 64-59. Following a JC timeout, Miller swished a three from near the top of the key with four minutes to go in the game. Moravian split a pair of free throws, Mahigel got the ball to Stauffer inside for two with a well-placed lob pass, and the Greyhounds scored inside on a driving layup off the glass from the right side. Colyer came down the other way, drove left off a screen, and put in a runner off the glass while being fouled. Her free throw made it 67-67 with just over two minutes to play.
Both teams missed their next shot, with Moravian calling a timeout with a minute and a half to play. After the pause, the Greyhounds got themselves a layup on the right side of the hoop to retake the lead. On the other end, Long found Stauffer inside, and she laid it in on the left side for her 25th point of the night to make it 69-69.
Juniata forced a miss but turned the ball over on the other end with 29 seconds to go. The Greyhounds called timeout and could plan to hold for the final shot. JC fouled with 16 seconds to go, and Moravian made both. Following a JC timeout, Long got off a difficult left-handed runner that was short, and Moravian got the ball, so the Eagles fouled. They made both, and that iced the game.
Juniata won the rebound battle, 43-31, but couldn't overcome their turnovers as Moravian scored 33 points off the 21 Eagle turnovers. Stauffer had over 20 points and 20 rebounds for the second time in her career.
