HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Arcadia University women's basketball team dropped a 94-75 decision to Juniata on the opening day of the Juniata Holiday Tournament Thursday evening. The Knights fell to 4-7 on the season, while the Eagles improved to 6-3.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The hosts responded to senior
Maureen Fiocca's game-opening three with back-to-back buckets for a 4-3 lead a minute in a half in before the Knights rattled off 10 straight points to jump ahead 13-4 four minutes after the opening tip. An 18-7 quarter-ending run put the Eagles in front by a 22-20 score after the first quarter.
Not to be discouraged, Arcadia retaliated in the opening minutes of the second period as sophomore
Olivia Roseman scored six points as part of a 12-2 spurt to put the Knights back in front by eight just over two minutes into the frame. A 20-9 run to end the half had the hosts in front 44-41 at the break.
Fiocca and Roseman combined for the first five points of the second half putting the Knights back in the lead by two less than a minute into the third quarter before Juniata went on a 17-4 run over the next six-plus minutes to claim a 61-50 lead with 2:54 left in the stanza. A pair of threes from Roseman and a successful and-one from freshman
Courtney Hoffman pulled Arcadia within two at 61-59 with 48 seconds left in the frame.
Fourth quarter turnovers proved to be the difference as the Eagles scored 13 points off 10 Arcadia turnovers to outscore the Knights 31-16 over the final 10 minutes of play. Arcadia pulled within three on two separate occasions, including on the heels of a 10-3 run after trailing by 10. Juniata followed that run with the next 15 points to claim the win.
ARCADIA LEADERS: Fiocca lead all scorers with 23 points while pulling in a team-leading five rebounds. Roseman's 21 points came on an 8-8 shooting performance from the field that included three three's, she also converted both free throw attempts and tied for the team lead with four assists. Senior
Imani Alston also had four assists to go along with 10 points.
MAKING HISTORY: Alston's four assists gave her 180 for her career and moved her into a tie for fifth on the all-time list with Jackie Law.
JUNIATA LEADERS: Dani Atkinson led the Eagles with 19 points, four assists and five steals. Kelly Leamer posted 15 points, while Katy Leamer registered a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: The Knights shot 44.6% (29-65) from the field, including 6-15 (40%) from distance, while converting 11-14 (78.6%) from the free throw line. Juniata went 39-76 (51.3%) from the field but just 8-23 (34.8%) from beyond the arc, while converting 8-11 (72.7%) from the charity stripe. The turnover battle was near even as the Knights scored 26 points off 17 Eagle turnovers and the Eagles scored 25 points off 18 Knight turnovers.
