(Posted December 30, 2004)

Olivet (Mi.) 67, Juniata 41

Olivet, Mi. ? After more than two weeks without game competition, the Juniata College women?s basketball team could be expected to be a little rusty. At those expectations proved to be correct as a rocky first half was too much for the Eagles (3-6) to overcome as they dropped a 67-41 contest against Olivet College (6-5) in Olivet, Mi. Thursday afternoon.

Juniata last took the court for a game on December 14, and the rust showed early as the Blue and Gold were held to 16 first half points and trailed 35-16 at the break. The lay-off also showed with the shooting touch as Juniata shot 21-percent from the field for the game, while the home team hit 65-percent of its shots from the field. Juniata was 0-22 from three-point range for the game.

Jess Winemiller (Dallastown/York) was the leading scorer for Juniata as she finished with 14 points. The freshman forward also added a team-high five steals and four rebounds. Mindy Werner (West York/York) and Lesley Snoby (Johnstown/Johnstown) both also grabbed four boards.

Olivet was lead by Emily Fix who notched a team-high 12 points. Essence Porter and Stephanie Smith both added 10 for the home team. Gina Willard led the way with eight rebounds, with Amy Brackenwagen passing out nine assists.

Juniata scored eight points in the first six minutes of the game as they trailed by one with 14:19 left in the half. The Eagles then endured a 10-minute scoreless drought as Olivet pulled out to a 28-8 lead at the 4:47 mark. A jumper from Jill Walsh (Ferndale/Johnstown) snapped the run and cut the deficit to 16, before Olivet nudged the lead back to 19 heading into the locker room.

The Eagles were unable to get on track offensively in the second half as well, though they upped the point total to 25 in the final 20 minutes. After Olivet scored the first four points of the half, a Winemiller lay-up brought Juniata back to within 19. The lead stayed above 20 for the rest of the half, though Juniata closed the game on an 8-1 run to reach the final margin of 67-41.

Juniata returns to action on January 5 when the Eagles host Waynesburg.

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Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.