(Posted December 10, 2005)

Juniata 85, Lycoming 63

HUNTINGDON, Pa.. ? The Juniata College women?s basketball team hit its first five shots from the field and never looked back as the Eagles claimed an 85-63 victory over visiting Lycoming College in Memorial Gym Saturday afternoon. Juniata is now 5-4 on the year, while the Warriors fell to 2-6.

Katie O?Brien (South Western/Hanover) led Juniata with 20 points, including one basket during the team?s 15-4 run to start the game. The Eagles connected on their first five shots, which included a pair of threes from Kristen Kirk (Newport/Newport) and a triple from Ali Meckey (Johnstown/Ebensburg). Lycoming bounced back with four-straight points from Andrea Cooper to cut the lead to seven with 14:01 left in the half, but that was as close as the Warriors got in the first 20 minutes. Juniata led by as many as 16 points in the half.

Free throws from Cooper and a bucket from Danielle Kern brought Lycoming within six in the early moments of the second half. Juniata responded with a 13-2 run over the next four minutes to take a 17-points edge.

Lycoming whittled the lead back down to 13 points with 6:38 remaining, only to see Meckey knock home another three and add a two-point basket to help push the lead up to 20 and close out the game. Back-to-back baskets in transition from Courtney Callas (Freeport/Sarver) gave Juniata its largest lead of 24 points with 2:27 showing on the clock.

Juniata shot 54 percent from the field in the game, including 58 percent in the second half. The Eagles also knocked down 42 percent of their three-point attempts in the outing.

Along with O?Brien three other Eagles finished in double figures. Callas scored a season-high 17 points while also grabbing a team-high five rebounds. Meckey finished with 13 points as she was 3-for-5 from three-point range. Kirk knocked down a pair of threes and finished with 12 points and a team-high five assists. Meckey and Kirk both also provided four steals on the defensive end.

Lycoming also had four players in double figures, with Kern leading the way with 20 points. She also grabbed a game-high eight boards. Amy Kile finished with 14 points, while Marissa Hastings and Cooper both added 12. Three Warriors passed out two assists.

The Eagles will now be out of action for several weeks for the holidays. Their next game will be on December 27 when they play Lakeland at the South Padre Shootout in South Padre, Texas.

LYCOMING (63): Hastings 5 0-0 12, Wisla 0 0-0 0, Kile 4 6-6 14, Cooper 4 4-4 12, Kern 8 4-7 20, Carey 0 1-2 1, Lindeman 2 0-0 4. Totals ? 23 15-19 63

JUNIATA (85): Meckey 5 0-2 13, Walsh 1 0-1 2, Kirk 4 2-2 12, O?Brien 7 6-7 20, Snoby 2 0-0 4, Callas 6 4-4 17, Rhoads 0 0-0 0, Piccolini 0 0-0 0, Werner 2 2-2 7, Ritchey 0 0-0 0, 34 0 0-0 0, Ashcraft 1 0-0 2, Hatch 3 1-2 8. Totals ? 31 15-20 85

Halftime: Juniata 43-35. 3-point goals: Lycoming 2 (Hastings); Juniata 8 (Meckey 3, Kirk 2, Callas, Werner, Hatch). Assists: Lycoming 8 (Cooper, Kern, Carey 2); Juniata 20 (Kirk 5). Rebounds: Lycoming 38 (Kern 8); Juniata 26 (Callas 5).

Records: Lycoming (2-6), Juniata (5-4).

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