Gophers Come Up Short Against the Eagles

HUNTINGDON, Pa. - A fourth quarter surge from the Eagles of Juniata College (8-14 Overall; 5-10 Conference) led to the 90-87 Landmark Conference victory against the Goucher College Gophers (13-9 Overall; 6-9 Conference). 

• The Eagles opened the scoring in the competition with a layup off tip off, which was quickly responded to by Merci Turner. 
• Lauryn Towns capitalized off the team turnover, giving the Gophers the early lead.
• A three-point play by Meona Boykin extended this lead, off the made basket and the additional free throw.
• Dani Scipioni gave the Eagles the lead again (7-8). 
• Baskets by Chi Igwe and Maiya Villanueva gave the Gophers a three point lead early in the game.
• Juniata went on a 7-3 run, getting the lead back half way into the quarter.
• A layup by Amira Whitaker, and back-to-back plays by Nia Edens put the Gophers with a five-point lead (2:47).
• The lead changed twice more, with Juniata ending the quarter ahead 23-22. 

• Whitaker scored the first basket of the quarter, off the inbound.
• Sanai Knox added a points for Goucher off the steal and offensive rebound.
• The game continued with trading baskets, with Goucher edging out Juniata 8-7 (4:18).
• A three-pointer by Nia George extended the Gophers lead to seven points, until Juniata rallied back with eight unaswered. 
• Boykin scored the final point of the half with a fast-break layup to end the half, with the Gophers down 42-45.

• Haily Sherman from Juniata added the first points onto the board for the half to build the lead for the Eagles.
• Villanueva sunk a three to tie the game again off the steal from Boykin (8:22).
• Points by Whitaker and Edens resulted in another lead change to go up 54-52 with just over half of the quarter remaining. 
• Juniata and Goucher traded points on a 7-7 run, before Boykin added three points to end the quarter up 64-59.

• Whitaker added a three-pointer to begin the quarter and then recorded a steal and an assist to a basket by Villanueva in a 15 second span. 
• The Eagles added an 8-2 run, which was capped by a layup from Leila Townsend. 
• Boykin and Igwe added eight points for the Gophers, but the Eagles fought back with free-throws and a made three-pointer by McCann.
• McCann from Juinata added the next seven points, putting the Eagles in the lead 85-83 with 1:37 remaining in the quarter.
• A three-pointer by Edens off the assist from Turner put Goucher in the lead, which was short-lived as Sherman adds another basket. 
• The Eagles finished off the Gophers in freethrows.

• Whitaker led the Gophers with 18 points on the night, she also added two rebounds and two steals.
• Boykin followed closely behind with 17 points, with four rebounds and three steals. 
• Igwe and Edens also added double digits with 12 and 11 points each.
• The Eagles shot 58.5% in the contest, going 6-12 from behind the arc, and shooting 81.5% at the charity stripe.
• The Gophers shot 38.6% in the game, going 7-20 beyond the three-point arc and going 50% from the free throw line.
• Juniata outrebounded the Gophers 52-37, recording six points off the six turnovers, while Goucher recorded 30 points off the 30 turnovers. 
• The game had 19 lead changes, and six ties. 

• The women travel to face Catholic on Wednesday, February 19th at 6pm.
• They return home on Saturday, February 22nd to compete in the first game of the double header against Wilkes for the senior game, set to tip off at 2pm.