HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Strong free-throw shooting down the stretch helped propel the Susquehanna women's basketball team (16-4, 9-2) to a 73-66 road victory over Juniata (8-13, 6-6) on Wednesday evening. SU sank five of its final six free throws in the last minute of the game to turn a four-point lead into a seven-point final margin.

Although the Crusaders led wire to wire, the Eagles managed to keep the game within a single possession until 90 seconds remained in regulation.

Freshman Courtney Adams (Hamilton, N.J./Hamilton West) led the team in scoring with 18 points off the bench and completed the double-double with a season-high 14 rebounds, including eight on the offensive glass. Sisters Sofia Schedler (Alexandria, Va./TC Williams) and Angie Schedler (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) both finished with 14 points with Angie picking up the first start of her career.

Nikki Komara (Shamokin, Pa./Lourdes Regional) also filled the stat sheet with 12 points, eight rebounds, five steals and three assists in 40 minutes.

After SU jumped ahead 22-9 with 12:12 remaining in the first half, Juniata called a timeout and scored the next five points to close to the gap to 22-14.

The teams traded scores until Susquehanna used five consecutive points from Sofia Schedler to regain its double-digit lead with just over nine minutes left in the period. The Eagles, however, later answered with nine consecutive points to cut the lead to 36-31 in favor of SU.

The Crusaders closed the half with a 9-2 run to take a 47-36 lead into the lockers and finished the period with a 48.5 field goal percentage.

In the second half, Juniata's Olivia Halfpenny scored all 11 of her points in the game on only three shots and recorded eight consecutive points to bring the Eagles within two, 66-64.

A layup by Adams with just over a minute remaining gave SU some breathing room and the team closed it out as Sofia and Angie Schedler each sank a pair of free throws to ward off Juniata.

Although SU claimed only 36 rebounds to Juniata's 48, the Crusaders won the possession battle by committing only nine turnovers while forcing 19, which translated to 22 points.

Susquehanna returns home to Houts Gym when it hosts Moravian on Saturday, Feb. at 2:00 p.m. The game will serve as both Pepsi Day and the team's Play 4Kay Breast Cancer Awareness Game, in honor of late North Carolina State women's basketball coach Kay Yow.