Seniors forward Amy Heffner and guard Emily Smith each scored career highs and had double-doubles to lead the Moravian College women's basketball team to a 91-73 Landmark Conference win over Juniata College Saturday afternoon in Johnston Hall.
The Greyhounds, who won their fourth straight conference game to improve to 9-6 on the season, scored 15 seconds into the game on a three-pointer from senior guard Hilary Murray for a lead they would never relinquish. Heffner would put Moravian up 10-2 on a three-pointer at the 16:59 mark, and the Greyhounds' lead reached double figures, 14-4, on a jumper from junior forward Alexandra Blair, a lead which remained in double figures for the rest of the contest.
Moravian's advantage reached 20 points, 28-8, on a three-pointer from Heffner with 7:36 left in the first half, and Smith gave the Greyhounds their largest lead of the first half, 24 points, 36-12, on a lay-up with 4:32 to go. Juniata would score 19 of the final 30 points of the half to cut Moravian's lead to 47-31 at halftime.
The Greyhounds were hot shooting the ball in the opening 20 minutes, making 16-of-29 field goal attempts (55.2 percent), five-of-eight three-pointers and ten-of-13 free throws. Moravian had ten turnovers in the first half while forcing Juniata into 13 turnovers. The Eagles, which had a 25-19 edge in rebounds, were just 11-for-40 from the field (27.5 percent), three-for-ten on three-pointers and six-for-eight at the foul line before the break.
The Eagles opened the second half with a 7-2 run to close within 11 points, 49-38, at the 16:56 mark on a lay-up by senior forward Jen Hnatuck, but that would be as close as Juniata would get. Murray pushed Moravian's lead back to 20 points, 65-45, on a lay-up with 10:37 to play, and another three-pointer from Murray gave the Greyhounds their biggest lead of the game, 26 points at 75-49, with 7:37 to go. The Eagles did get with 13 points on two occasions before Heffner hit two free throws with 1:13 left to put the lead back to 20 points, 87-67.
Moravian continued its hot shooting in the second half, making 15-of-31 field goal attempts (48.4 percent), two-of-five three-pointers and 12-of-17 free throws. The Greyhounds had 21 turnovers in the game while Juniata had 20 miscues. The Eagles made 14-of-41 field goals (34.1 percent), one-of-nine three-pointers and 13-of-18 free throws in the final 20 minutes. Juniata did have a 50-42 advantage in rebounds.
The story for the Greyhounds was Heffner and Smith. Heffner had her second straight double-double with a career high 34 points to go with 12 rebounds and three steals. It was the third time this season that Heffner has scored at least 30 points in a game, and it was her sixth double-double. Smith recorded the first double-double of her career with 23 points and 13 rebounds, both career highs, to go with three assists and two steals. The duo was 19-for-28 from the floor, five-for-seven behind the three-point line (all by Heffner) and 14-for-18 at the foul line.
Murray finished with eight points and six assists for the Greyhounds while Blair had seven points, five blocked shots and four boards before fouling out. Freshman guard Katie O'Rourke contributed seven points, six steals and five rebounds for Moravian while sophomore guard Amanda Kreuder added five rebounds, four points and four assists.
Hnatuck led three Juniata players in double figures with a double-double that included 22 points and a game high 18 rebounds with 12 offensive boards. Junior guard Ashton Bankos had 15 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists for the Eagles while sophomore guard Jordan Speck added ten points, nine boards and four steals. Sophomore forward Alyssia Gordon contributed eight points and six rebounds off of the Juniata bench while freshmen forward Kate McDonald and guard Jordan Hileman each had four points.