Eagles Advance to Tournament Championship with 75-51 Victory over Saxons

HUNTINGDON, PA – With a 75-51 victory over the Alfred Saxons Wednesday evening, the Juniata women's basketball team advances to the championship round of the 10^th annual Juniata College Holiday Tournament. 

The Eagles forced 22 turnovers and cashed out 25 points from the opportunities. 

Natalie Hager (Franklin, PA / Franklin) led Juniata and earned a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds (eight defensive). Hager joined three other Juniata athletes with double-digit scoring. 

Maria Photiades (Abottstown, PA / Delone Catholic) finished with a team-leading 14 points. Photiades also picked up four assists, five rebounds and three steals. 

Rachael Anstine (York, PA / Dallastown) followed with 13 points, three assists and three rebounds. Dani Atkinson (Lancaster, PA / Lancaster Catholic) put 11 points on the board and made three assists.

"It was good to see four people in double figures," head coach Danny Young-Uhrich said. "It's about time our scoring stepped up. We need to knock down a couple more threes and hit more open shots but this has been our highest shooting percentage in awhile." 

The Eagles finished the game with a 38.7 shooting percentage and went 9-20 (45.0%) on three-point shots. 

Juniata finished the game with advantages in the paint (34-26), off turnovers (25-10), second chance points (17-12), fast breaks (10-2) and off the bench (22-9). 

The Eagles have been consistently strong off the bench this season. Five of the eight bench players put up points against the Saxons. Katy Leamer (Altoona, PA / Bellwood-Antis) led the bench with seven points, three rebounds and one block.

The Eagles face Christopher Newport at 2pm Thursday in the holiday tournament's championship game. The consolation game between Penn State-Altoona and Alfred University will be played at noon.