Eagles Re-Group, Leave No Doubt in Second Half
Smith Achieves Sixth Double-Double with 14 Points, 11
Rebounds
January 24, 2009
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – It appeared as though Goucher had
weathered the storm. The Gophers, who trailed Juniata by nine
points before the game was even four minutes old, had battled back
to within 25-24 when Leia Roberts-Brown (Capitol Heights,
Md./Archbishop Carroll) made a lay-up with 3:24 left to
play in the first half.
Yet, by the time halftime rolled around, the Eagles were once again comfortably in front, leading 35-24. They went on to defeat head coach Didi Cotton's squad, 71-58, thwarting a bid by the Gophers to move ahead of Juniata in the Landmark Conference standings.
Juniata started off making five of its first seven shots from the field, including a three-pointer by Brittany Ryder that made the score 11-2 after just 3:14. A lay-up by Amber Smith (Baltimore, Md./Institute of Notre Dame) accounted for all of Goucher's points until Kelsey Myette (Binghamton, N.Y./Seton Catholic Central) scored from in close with 15:59 showing on the clock.
Following the lay-up by Roberts-Brown that made it a one-point game, the Eagles (8-9, 2-4 Landmark) closed out the first half with a 10-0 run that featured a pair of three-pointers by Meagan Raville and was embellished by a technical foul on the Goucher bench.
The two teams were separated by as many as 27 points in the second half, but with :45 left to play, the Gophers (5-10, 1-5 Landmark) got as close as 67-58 on a lay-up by Kiara James (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytechnic Institute).
Smith was the leading scorer and leading rebounder for Goucher as she notched her sixth double-double of the season by scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 boards.
Ryder supplied the Eagles with 15 points.