Eagles Rally in the Fourth Past Gophers

BALTIMORE, MD.-The Juniata women's basketball team outscored Goucher by nine in the final frame to come back and win, 61-56, at the Decker Center Wednesday evening. 

Grace Long (Harrisburg, Pa. / Central Dauphin) sunk a pair of foul shots to make it 3-2, two minutes into the contest. Larissa Leonard (Three Springs, Pa. / Southern Huntingdon) found Gracie Stauffer (Loysville, Pa. / West Perry) for a layup before Goucher countered with a midrange jumper. Kymiah Carpenter (Baltimore, Md. / Gerstell Academy) found Stauffer for another layup to make it 7-6 before the Gophers converted an and-one as the Eagles trailed by four, five minutes in. Cassie Mock (Martinsburg, Pa. / Central Martinsburg) made two free throws, Goucher scored on a layup and Madison Colyer (Newville, Pa. / Big Spring) drilled a jumper off a pass from Averie Hess (Jersey Shore, Pa. / Jersey Shore).Colyer drilled another jumper and set up Stauffer for a layup to knot things at 14-14 with just under three minutes to go in the quarter. Mock converted another foul shot for the final point of the quarter as the Eagles led by one, 15-14.  

Carpenter grabbed a rebound and went the other way, scoring inside via a layup to open the scoring. The teams traded buckets over the next several minutes as the Gophers took the lead with just over two minutes to go in the half. Long found Stauffer inside and Mock dished it to Colyer for a jumper as the Eagles led 27-24 with a minute and half to go. The Gophers scored seven of the final eight points as the Eagles trailed by three, 31-28, heading into the locker room at the half.

The third quarter opened with the hosts drilling a jumper. On the offensive end for the Eagles, Long corralled a miss and a few seconds later Colyer scored on a layup inside to cut the lead to three at 33-30. With four minutes to go in the quarter the Gophers pushed their lead to seven before Hess converted an and-one and scored on a layup which, sandwiched around a Gopher layup cut the lead to five. The Gophers made a foul shot to lead by six in the final minute. Long grabbed an offensive rebound and drilled a jumper in the final 20 seconds as the Eagles trailed by four heading into the final frame.  

A steal by Hess resulted in a Leonard layup on the other end before Goucher responded with a layup of their own. Long drilled a jumper and following a Gopher miss, scored on a layup on the other end after grabbing an offensive rebound to tie things at 45-45. A Stauffer layup following an offensive rebound of her own fifty seconds later gave the Eagles their first lead since the second quarter. The teams went back and forth, as a Stauffer layup off a pass from Leonard and a Colyer bucket off a feed from Mock had the Eagles up four just under six minutes to go.  

Goucher got within two on a jumper, but Stauffer rattled home two foul shots to push the advantage back to four. The Gophers got within three several more times down the stretch, a jumper with 38 seconds to go in the game made it 59-56 JC. A Colyer midrange j in the final 15 seconds iced the games for the Eagles. 

The Eagles dominated the boards, 52-32, in the game while holding Goucher to 31.7% shooting from the field.

Long had her first career double-double as she grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds. 

Juniata returns to action Saturday at home against Moravian. Tipoff is at 2:00.