HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- The Elizabethtown College women's basketball team got caught behind Juniata in Wednesday night's matchup at Memorial Gymnasium. The Blue Jays trailed by nine at the half and though they outscored Juniata in the third and fourth quarters, it was only by a point each and not enough to overcome the deficit as the Eagles held on for a 70-63 win.

In the first game between the two schools since last year's Landmark Conference semifinal at Juniata (7-11, 5-2 Landmark), the Eagles got out 23-18 after the first quarter. Kaeana Rebert and Larissa Leonard combined to score 25 first-half points for Juniata as they shot 50 percent as a team, hit four shots from beyond the arc, and went 5-for-6 at the foul line.

Elizabethtown (11-6, 4-3 Landmark) shot well from the field through the first two quarters at 45 percent (13-for-29), but with only one trey courtesy of Marissa Emlet and Juniata hitting an additional three to that, the Eagles had the lead at the break, 39-30.

The Blue Jays did hold the lead early, but a 7-2 run put Juniata ahead by six after Gracie Stauffer's layup. Veronica Christ got E-town within three, 16-13, with a layup on one of Lydia Lawson's career-high 11 assists. The Eagles were poised to go into the second up eight points, but Emlet's three brought it back down to five with 27 seconds left in the first. Emma Powell kept the possession alive with an offensive rebound and eventually Lawson found Emlet for the three-pointer.

Juniata threatened to pull away as they built up a nine-point lead early in the second, but Christ and Lawson got the Jays back within three. Back-to-back fast break layups by Lawson made it 27-24. A few possessions of scoreless basketball led to Christ's bucket and Elizabethtown was only down one.

The Eagles held the Blue Jays scoreless for nearly a four-minute span to close out the first half and the one-point deficit became 11 in the that time. Roni Isenberg's jumper with 27 seconds remaining in the half broke the drought and got E-town back within nine.

Elizabethtown scratched and clawed its way to stay within striking distance, but an 0-for-7 showing from three-point range made the task of a comeback more difficult. The Jays were able to hang in there at the foul line, earning 15 free throws in the second half and knocking down 13 of them.

Stauffer had 14 second-half points and the Eagles stayed hot from the floor, hitting on 46 percent of their shots (12-for-26).

Angie Hawkins had EC within a point in the third quarter, but Juniata got it back up to double digits and held it there for most of the fourth quarter. Christ knocked down two free throws with 19 seconds left to make it a four-point game, but it was too little, too late for the Blue Jays. Rebert hit two freebies of her own to essentially put the game away and Juniata maintained its spot in second place in the Landmark with a 70-63 win.

Christ had a game-high 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting and Lawson added 16 points and those 11 dimes. Rebert and Stauffer each had 18 points and 9 rebounds for Juniata.

The women's basketball team remains on the road with a date at Scranton on Saturday, January 26, at 2 p.m.