HUNTINGDON, PA – The York College women's basketball team erased a 14-point halftime deficit to earn a 68-63 road win at Juniata College on Wednesday night at Memorial Gymnasium on the campus of Juniata College. The Spartans have now won three straight and five of their last six. The Spartans were clutch from the free throw line, draining 17-of-19 attempts including 13-of-15 in the second half.
Records
York (Pa.): 9-6
Juniata: 3-9
Team Stats
Score: York 68, Juniata 63
FG: York 22-for-58 (37.9%), Juniata 25-for-71 (35.2%)
3PT FG: York 7-for-23 (30.4%), Juniata 7-for-22 (31.8%)
FT: York 17-for-19 (89.5%), Juniata 6-for-11 (54.5%)
Rebounds: York 41, Juniata 44
Assists: York 11, Juniata 14
Turnovers: York 19, Juniata 17
Blocked Shots: York 8, Juniata 3
Steals: York 7, Juniata 10
How It Happened:
• The first quarter was back and forth and featured an offensive flavor. The game was tied at five when the Eagles went on an 11-4 run to take a 15-9 lead. The Spartans trimmed the lead to one at 17-16 but the Eagles scored six of the final eight points of the quarter to take a 23-18 advantage after 10 minutes of play.
• Juniata carried over the momentum of the end of the first quarter to the start of the second. The Eagles scored eight of the first 10 points of the second quarter to surge to a 31-20 lead. Juniata's lead bounced between 11 and seven points over the next four minutes before Juniata smacked York with a 9-0 run to surge to a 43-27 lead with 39 seconds left in the half. The 16-point lead would be the largest of the game for the hosts. Molly Day got a bucket with six seconds left in the half as York faced a 14-point deficit at the break.
• The Green and White regrouped at the intermission and came out hot by scoring the first six points of the half. Cassidy Arnold put the Eagles back up 10 with a layup at the 6:07 mark but the Spartan defense stiffened, holding the Eagles scoreless for the next four-plus minutes. While York was getting it done on defense, the offense finally started to click with a 10-point spurt started by an Alana Bortner three and ended with a Bortner three-point play as the Spartans had pulled even at 45. The teams traded baskets over the final three minutes of the quarter before the Eagles took a 52-50 lead to the final quarter. The Spartans outscored the Eagles 21-9 in the third quarter as they held Juniata to 4-for-13 from the floor.
• Juniata struck first in the fourth but York answered with seven straight points to take a 57-54 lead. The Eagles responded with five straight points of their own. York's Meghan Carlson drilled a pair of free throws to tie the game at 59 with 4:26 left in the game. York scored the next three points followed by four straight Juniata points as the Eagles led 63-62 with 1:58 left in the game. Bortner gave the Spartans the lead for good with a three-pointer from the right wing, as York took a 65-63 lead. The Spartans would hit three of four free throws over the final 14 seconds of the game to secure the win. York outscored Juniata 39-20 in the second half.
• The Spartans held Juniata's standout post Gracie Stauffer to a season-low 11 points as she went 5-for-9 from the floor. The Spartans did a great job of executing the game plan and forcing other Eagles to beat them. Stauffer did have a season-high five assists in the game.
Spartan Leaders:
Alana Bortner: 17 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocked shots
Haley Luckabaugh: 16 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 blocked shot
Kayla Ferris: 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocked shots
Molly Day: 13 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 blocked shot
Eagle Leaders:
Cassidy Arnold: 13 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals
Gracie Stauffer: 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocked shots, 2 steals, 5 assists
Larissa Leonard: 11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals
Madison Colyer: 11 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal
Grace Long: 6 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
Notes:
The Spartans lead the all-time series against the Eagles 10-8 as they have won three straight in the series … the visit to Huntingdon was the first since the Spartans won a pair of NCAA Tournament games at Memorial Gym on March 2 & 3, 2012 when York beat St. Vincent 86-66 in the opening round of the tournament followed by a 90-81 win over the host Eagles to advance to the Sweet 16 … sophomore Alana Bortner notched her seventh straight game in double figures with her 17 points … Bortner made a career-high seven free throws in nine attempts … sophomore Haley Luckabaugh reached double figures for the fourth straight game with her 16 points as she was 6-for-12 from the floor and 4-for-8 from three … Luckabaugh has made 15 three pointers in her last four games … one game after Luckabaugh pulled in a career-high ten rebounds, she collected eight in the win over Juniata … junior Kayla Ferris had her seventh double figure scoring game of the year with her 14 points … Ferris went 6-for-6 from the line … the six trips to the line marked a season-high for Ferris … Ferris had three more blocked shots as she now leads the team with 19 blocked shots in her 14 games … she is tied for second in the CAC in blocked shots … Ferris leads the Spartans in rebounds per game (7.3), assists (54), blocked shots (19) and steals (33) … the Spartans were outstanding at the free throw line as they sunk 17-of-19, good for a season-best accuracy mark of 89.5% … the Spartans committed 19 turnovers which the Eagles turned into 15 points … the Spartans forced 17 Juniata turnovers which converted into 17 Spartan points … despite the presence of standout Eagle center Gracie Stauffer, the Spartans were outscored just 26-24 in points in the paint … York blocked eight shots in the win, their second-highest total of the year behind the 10 they recorded at Johns Hopkins to open the season … after starting the season 1-3, the Spartans have gone 8-3.
Up Next
The Spartans conclude their three-game road trip on Friday afternoon as they open their final Capital Athletic Conference campaign at Newport News against conference favorite Christopher Newport. Tip time at the Freeman Center is set for 3:00 pm.