SCRANTON, Pa.—A fast start led to a false sense of security for The University of Scranton in an 81-68 loss to Juniata College in the third of a four-game Landmark Conference home stand Friday evening at the Long Center.

The Lady Royals, now 9-5 overall and 3-1 in the conference, led 38-29 at intermission before the Eagles completely out-played them in the second half by shooting nearly 71 percent from the field to post their first win over Scranton since February 25, 1992. 

Juniata, now 10-5 overall and 3-1 in the Landmark Conference, was led by senior forward Jen Hnatuck (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) with 15 points and 10 rebounds, freshman forward Kate McDonald (Pa. Furnace, Pa./State College Area) and sophomore guard Natalie Glinsky (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) finished with 14 apiece, and junior guard Ashton Bankos (York, Pa./York Catholic) chipped in 13.

Senior guard Megan Kopecki (Millington, N.J./Watchung Hills Regional) scored 17 of her game-high 19 points in the first half and first-year guard Alison Sweeney (Wall, N.J./Saint Rose) finished with 11 points for Scranton, which scored only three points in the final 6:52 after junior forward Sarah Gage (Ledgewood, N.J./Roxbury) scored a lay-up to give the Lady Royals a 65-60 lead.

To say that the Eagles turned things around after halftime would be understatement.  Juniata appeared to be in big trouble after turning the ball over on 10 of their first 12 possession to dig itself a big hole, 11-0.

Nevertheless, behind seven points by Hnatuck and Hileman and six from sophomore guard Jordan Speck (Huntington, Pa./Southern Huntingdon), the Eagles kept their composure and stayed within striking distance by intermission.

The Eagles' confidence level grew with each and every basket in the second half and eventually took the lead for good on a conventional 3-point play by Hnatuck off a nice feed from Glinsky, 67-65, with 5:32 left. McDonald sandwiched a pair of lay-ups around a lay-up by Speck to stretch the lead to eight, 73-65.

By that time, the wheels had come off for Scranton, which finally ended a five-minute stretch without a basket when senior guard Colleen McLane (Scranton, Pa./Scranton Preparatory) hit a 3-pointer with 45 seconds remaining.  In addition, the Lady Royals committed five of their 17 turnovers in the final five minutes of play.

For the game, the Eagles shot 58 percent from the field (29 of 50), including 57.1 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.  Juniata also took better care of the basketball in the second half, committing only five miscues after turning it over 18 times in the first half.

The Lady Royals will end this Landmark Conference home stand against Susquehanna University tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 p.m. at the Long Center.

News & Notes:  Scranton senior forward Courtney Roselle (Cedar Grove, N.J./Mt. St. Dominic Academy) injured an ankle in the first half and did not play the rest of the game…Scranton holds a 28-3 lead in the all-time series with Juniata, but all three wins by the Eagles have now come at the Long Center…Eagles held a 37-28 advantage in rebounding…Juniata committed only nine personal fouls, which kept Scranton off the free throw line; the Lady Royals attempted only three shots from the charity stripe.

Newspaper Box Score
JUNIATA 81, SCRANTON 68

JUNIATA (10-5/3-1 Landmark)
Jen Hnatuck 6-8 3-4 15; Kate McDonald 6-12 2-5 14; Natalie Glinsky 4-6 3-3 14; Ashton Bankos 4-9 5-6 13; Jordan Speck 3-4 1-4 9; Paige Robertson 2-2 1-2 7; Jordan Hileman 3-5 0-0 7; Alyssia Gordon 1-3 0-0 2; Erin McGinley 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-50 15-24 81.

SCRANTON (9-5/3-1 Landmark)
Megan Kopecki 9-19 1-1 19; Alison Sweeney 4-12 2-2 11; Katie Cunningham 3-5 0-0 8; Courtney Roselle 4-5 0-0 8; Sidney Jaques 2-4 0-0 6; Jennifer King 2-7 0-0 5; Sarah Gage 2-7 0-0 4; Colleen McLane 1-6 0-0 3; Shernai Bentley 1-2 0-0 2; Tayler Pallotta 1-3 0-0 2; Katherine Torto 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-70 3-3 68.

Juniata.......................   29   52  -   81
The University of Scranton....   38   30  -   68

3-point goals--Juniata 8-14 (Natalie Glinsky 3-5; Jordan Speck 2-2; Paige Robertson 2-2; Jordan Hileman 1-3; Ashton Bankos 0-2), The University of Scranton 7-22 (Sidney Jaques 2-3; Katie Cunningham 2-4; Jennifer King 1-4; Alison Sweeney 1-4; Colleen McLane 1-4; Megan Kopecki 0-3). Fouled out--Juniata-None, The University of Scranton-None. Rebounds--Juniata 37 (Jen Hnatuck 10), The University of Scranton 28 (Megan Kopecki 6). Assists--Juniata 20 (Ashton Bankos 6), The University of Scranton 19 (Megan Kopecki 7). Total fouls--Juniata 9, The University of Scranton 17. Technical fouls--Juniata-None, The University of Scranton-None. A-250