By: Jennifer Jones
Director of Sports Information
jonesj@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Juniata College women's basketball team is primed for a big season. The young Eagles squad returns four of its five starters from last year and was picked to finish third in the Landmark Conference preseason poll. Juniata finished last season with a 19-9 record, its third straight year going over .600, and went 9-5 in conference play.
The Landmark poll is voted on by the league's head coaches. Juniata received one first place vote and earned 37 total points, just edging out reigning conference champion Catholic University who earned 36 points.
"I can see the conference falling into play the same as it did with the top half being pretty solid," said 12th year head coach Danny Young-Uhrich. "Moravian lost only one or two girls. Scranton is going to be very tough. But I'd like to get some redemption with Catholic."
Juniata fell to the Cardinals in all three of their meetings last season. Catholic is currently tied for 23rd in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) preseason poll. They finished last season ranked 11th in the poll and 17th in the D3hoops.com top 25 poll, respectively.
Moravian, who is ranked No. 22 in the country by Women's DIII News, finished first in the poll with six first place votes and 67 points. The University of Scranton placed second with 52 points. Click here to view the full preseason poll.
"We didn't lose many last year, so we do have a good core returning, but we still have a lot of first timers," added Young-Uhrich. "I'm optimistic and positive because we have great senior leadership."
Returners
Seniors Kate McDonald (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa./State College) and Jordan Hileman(Williamsburg, Pa./Williamsburg) started every game last season and have taken the reins of leading the pack. The pair are the only two seniors on the squad and have been vocal leaders since the end of last season.
"They both bring a lot of intensity and a lot of experience and definitely a lot of leadership to the game," said Young-Uhrich. "They want to be successful, not just for themselves. It's fun to be around that. It's fun to be around two young women that get it."
McDonald is a two-time First-Team All-Landmark selection who led the team in nearly every category last year. Hileman spent the most time on the court of any Eagle last season, averaging over 31 minutes per game, and finished second in assists.
The Eagles also return junior Kelsey Livoti (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) and sophomores Maria Photiades (Abbottstown, Pa./Delone Catholic) and Paige Dennison (East Berlin, Pa./Bermudian Springs), all of whom spent significant minutes on the court last year. Livoti started every game, averaging 8.9 points per game. Photiades was a key sixth women for the Eagles. She appeared in every game and had the best three-point field goal percentage on the squad. Dennison also appeared in all 28 games. She earned five starts and scored a career-high 15 points against Merchant Marine last year.
Newcomers
With the six returners, come five fresh faces who are expected to make an immediate impact. Freshman Olivia Halfpenny (McVeytown, Pa./Mifflin County) scored over 1,000 career points in high school and was a Mid-Penn Commonwealth first team selection. The 5-9, guard/forward will fill the void left by all-conference guard and deep ball threat Jordan Speck.
"We gained a very good shooter in Olivia," added Young-Uhrich. "When it comes to pure shot ability, she's definitely going to be good. She's plays swing for us, so she's going to get opportunity just because she can play both inside and out."
Freshman Katie Leamer (Altoona, Pa./Bellwood-Antis) is another local standout that is expected to step right in and contribute. The Intercounty Conference Most Valuable Player was named first-team All-Altoona Mirror her junior and senior year. She became on the second junior all-time at Bellwood-Antis to reach 1,000 career points and was a three-sport student-athlete, competing in volleyball and outdoor track and field during her career.
"She doesn't know how athletic she is yet," Young-Uhrich said of the 5-10, forward. "She's a jumper and she's a runner. She finishes extremely well, but we need to teach her that explosiveness part of the game and I think once she gets there, she'll embrace it beyond belief."
Schedule
Juniata has put together a competitive non-conference schedule to prepare for Landmark play. The Eagles open the 2013-14 season at the Messiah Tipoff Tournament Friday, Nov. 15 where they will face Ursinus College at 4 p.m. It continues on Saturday, Nov. 16 and the Eagles will face either Rosemont or the host Falcons.
"It's not going to be a cake walk to get through that," said Young-Uhrich of the tournament. "Messiah's a top team every year and I don't expect them to be any different this year."
The Falcons are receiving votes in both the WBCA and D3hoops.com preseason polls. Other opponents this year receiving votes include Cabrini College. Young-Uhrich described them as an up and coming team. The Eagles will meet the Cavaliers at the New York University Tournament Friday, Jan. 3 for a 3 p.m. tipoff.
Landmark play starts at home against Moravian on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 4 p.m. and begins again on Saturday, Jan. 11 at Scranton. The Eagles host their annual holiday tournament again this winter and welcome DeSales University, St. Vincent College and Muskingum to Huntingdon December 29-30.
"I think it's pretty exciting, the opportunities that we have," Young-Uhrich commented. "I don't want to look back any time sayings it's what we had. It's about moving forward and I'm pretty excited to see the team we can be. And I think that's going to determine the success we have."
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