Juniata goes undefeated in regular season conference play with Susquehanna win

SELINSGROVE, PA. -  Five double-digit scoring performances by Juniata's women's basketball team launched the Eagles to a 77-48 victory over Susquehanna University Saturday evening in Selinsgrove, Pa.

Senior Meagan Raville led (McSherrystown, Pa./Delone Catholic) Juniata in scoring for the second game in a row with 16 points. Next in line was junior Alyssia Gordon (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) with 14, while junior Natalie Glinsky (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) drained 13. Sophomore Kate McDonald (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa./State College Area) posted 12 and sophomore Jordan Hileman (Williamsburg, Pa./Williamsburg) logged 11 points.

With the win, Juniata (24-1) improved to a 14-0 Landmark record, the best regular season conference finish in program history.

The Eagles led from the tip-off with senior Ashton Bankos (York, Pa./York Catholic) kicking things off with a layup just six seconds into the contest.

Gordon drove into the paint, and 24 seconds layer sunk a jumper to give Juniata an early 6-0 lead on the Crusaders just under the 17-minute mark of the first half.

Juniata continued to pull away in the first half, made possible by some key performances from Glinsky and Gordon. Both drained 10 points apiece in the first stanza, accounting for just over 50% of the Eagles 38 points scored in the first 20 minutes of play.

Heading into the second half holding a 38-23 lead, the Eagles refused to hit the pause button and went on a 17-11 scoring run against the Crusaders in the first nine minutes of the half, that featured a five minute scoring drought for Susquehanna (5-20, 2-12 Landmark). At the end of the run Juniata was leading 57-36, a 23-point margin.

Juniata didn't stop there and the score deficit peaked in the Eagles' favor at the 1:40 mark with a freshman Kelsey Livoti (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) layup that secured the Juniata win with a final score of 77-48, a 29-point difference.

Glinsky combined her 13 points with a game high 10 rebounds for just her second double double of the season, her first occurring when she also logged 12 points and 10 boards in the Eagles' 79-50 win over Goucher College (1/13).

Juniata shot at a .456 percent clip from the field, and posted a .200 shooting percentage from 3-point range and a 2-of-24 performance from the foul line.

The Eagles forced 22 Crusader turnovers, 11 of which came from steals, and they managed to translate them into 23 points. Glinsky and McDonald each swiped three steals from Susquehanna.

Juniata will host Moravian College on Wednesday, Feb. 22, in the semi-final round of the Landmark Conference tournament.

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