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The Saint Vincent women's basketball team lost its first game of the season to the Eagles of Juniata College by a score of 76-63 in the Carey Center.

SVC held a 38-29 halftime lead but could not withstand a strong shooting performance by the visitors in the second half.

The teams played evenly through the early portion of the game, before Saint Vincent took a five-point edge, 16-11, after scores from Brittany Sedlock and Devin McGrath.  Another bucket by McGrath, set up by point guard Elle Collins, later ran the lead to eight, 26-18, with 6:10 left in the first half.

Juniata then came back with a 7-0 run of their own to cut the lead to just one, 26-25, two minutes later.

At the 2:25 mark, the visitors took their first lead since the game's opening minutes, after a Kate McDonald score made it a 29-28 game.  Emily Fenton then took control, scoring on a drive, followed by a three-pointer, then adding a steal and a conventional three-point play, as she rattled off eight straight points to put SVC in front, 36-29.  Melissa Mansur then hit a buzzer-beater to make it a nine-point Saint Vincent lead at the break.

However, the second half belonged to the Eagles, as they shot 60% from the floor in the second half (15-25) and continued their torrid pace for three-pointers.  For the day, they hit 11 of 23 from outside the newly expanded arc.  Senior Ashton Bankos led all scorers with 24 points, as the Eagles took command with eleven minutes, breaking a 49-49 tie and never looking back.

Three players from each team scored in double figures on the day.  In addition to Bankos, McDonald (17) and Jordan Speck (16) led the Eagles.  Bankos added six assists and five steals, while Speck had a team-high 9 rebounds for Juniata (5-0).

For Saint Vincent (3-1), Devin McGrath tallied 17 points, while Sedlock added 14 and Fenton had 12.  Sedlock led all rebounders in the game with 12, while Mansur added 8 rebounds and four steals. 

SVC will return to action on Wednesday night, opening conference play on the road at Westminster College at 6PM.  The game can be heard live on WCNS-AM and on the SVC/Meridix Sports Network.