(Posted December 4, 2004)

Widener 76, Juniata 67

Chester, Pa. ? Freshman Jess Winemiller (Dallastown/York) scored a career-high 24 points but it wasn?t enough to lead the Juniata College women?s basketball team to a victory as the Eagles dropped a 76-67 decision to Widener University in Chester Saturday afternoon. Juniata fell to 2-3 on the year with the loss, and is now 0-2 in the conference. Widener is now 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the Commonwealth Conference

The Eagles matched the home team with 39 points apiece in the second half, but couldn?t overcome a nine-point halftime deficit. Juniata scored 28 points in the first half but hung right with the Pioneers for most of the first 20 minutes. With three minutes remaining in the stanza Kristen Kirk (Newport/Newport) converted a three-point play to tie the game at 26. Widener then closed the half on an 11-2 run to take a nine-point lead.

Widener maintained the lead throughout the second half, though Juniata would make its share of runs. A three from Ali Meckey (Bishop Carroll/Ebensburg) brought Juniata within four nearly halfway through the second half. Winemiller followed with a lay-up a minute later, cutting the lead back to four. A 5-0 run put Widener back up by nine and though another Eagle run capped by a three from Jill Walsh (Ferndale/Johnstown) got the lead back down to four, but that was as close as Juniata got.

Winemiller was 9-for-15 from the field in the game, helping Juniata shoot 48-percent from the field for the game.

Kirk also finished in double figures for Juniata with 16 points, while Katie O?Brien (South Western/Hanover) chipped in 14. Winemiller and O?Brien both grabbed seven rebounds, while O?Brien paced the team with three assists.

Nicole Stanley was the leading scorer for Widener with 19 points. Chelsea Luhta and Dominique Kidd added 18 and 17 points respectively with Luhta grabbing a team-high six rebounds. Linette Babiarz passed out four assists to lead Widener.

Juniata returns to action Wednesday with a non-conference game at Lycoming.

JUNIATA (67): Walsh 3 0-2 7, Kirk 6 1-1 16, Werner 1 0-0 2, Winemiller 9 6-7 24, O?Brien 6 2-6 14, Callas 0 0-0 0, Meckey 1 1-2 4, Killen 0 0-0 0, Snoby 0 0-0 0. Totals ? 26 10-18 67

WIDENER (76): Babiarz 1 7-9 9, Luhta 8 2-2 18, Stanley 9 0-0 19, Baumgardner 3 1-4 7, Kidd 5 7-8 17, Murphy 2 2-2 6, Williams 0 0-0 0, Bixby 0 0-0 0, Ostrowski 0 0-0 0

Halftime: Widener 37-28. 3-point goals: Juniata 5 (Kirk 3, Walsh, Meckey); Widener 1 (Stanley). Assists: Juniata 14 (O?Brien 3); Widener 11 (Babiarz 4). Rebounds: Juniata 33 (O?Brien, Winemiller 7); Widener 35 (Luhta 6).


Records: Juniata (2-3); Widener (4-2)

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