(Posted January 20, 2007)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. - Visiting Albright College raced out to an early 16-0 lead and the Juniata College women\'s basketball team was unable to overcome that deficit as the Eagles dropped a 56-45 decision in Commonwealth Conference action Saturday afternoon. Juniata\'s (11-6, 2-4 Commonwealth) Jess Winemiller (Dallastown/York) scored 14 points to lead the team, but the Eagles were done in by their slow start. Despite the slow start which included trailing by 16 at the half, the Eagles made their run in the second half. Still trailing by 15 in the opening minutes of the half, Juniata put together a 10-2 run that cut the deficit to seven. Winemiller had five points during the spurt that left the score 34-27 Albright with 13:24 remaining. A pair of free throws and then a jumper from Albright\'s Annie McMahon halted the run and pushed the lead back to double digits. McMahon led all players with 16 points in the contest as she had two field goals but was 12-of-14 from the foul line. The Eagles put together one more push as baskets from Winemiller and Claudia McDowell (Juniata Valley/Alexadria) cut the Albright lead to eight points with 7:20 left. But Winemiller had a three pointer bound out on the next trip, and the Lions quickly pushed the lead back into double figures and put the game away. Juniata could not get any shots to drop in the opening half as the team was 6-of-22 from the floor in the first 20 minutes. Albright held Juniata off the scoreboard for the first ten minutes of the half, until a Kelly Rotan (Hammonton/Acton, N.J.) jumper broke the ice. Meanwhile, the Lions shot 46 percent from the field in the first half to build the 16-point edge going into halftime. Winemiller\'s 14-point effort was her 11th double-digit scoring performance of the season. The junior forward also paced the team with three assists. McDowell chipped in eight points for Juniata, while Steph Hatch (Bellwood-Antis/Bellwood) grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Stacy Waligorski joined McMahon in double figures for Albright as she scored 14 points and had 11 rebounds. The Lions controlled the glass in the game as they outrebounded Juniata 43-24. Jen DuPrau and Marie Levins both finished with three assists for Albright. Juniata will be in action again on Wednesday as the Eagles travel to face Commonwealth opponent Lebanon Valley. ###

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