SELINSGROVE, Pa. – The Susquehanna University women's basketball team completed the season series sweep of the Juniata College Eagles Saturday afternoon to sendoff their lone senior, Rachel Sweger (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown Area), with a two-game win streak. Susquehanna (15-10, 7-7 LC) withstood 31 points from Gracie Stauffer and handed the visiting Eagles (5-20, 2-12 LC) a 68-61 defeat in the season finale.
 
Sophomore forward Olivia Brandt (Bethlehem, Pa./Notre Dame) led the River Hawks with a career-best 20 points while sophomore Amalia Esposito (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) followed with her own 15-point contribution.
 
SU finished out its first season under the leadership of Gabby Holko with a winning season for the first time since a 14-11 mark in 2016-17.
 
Susquehanna 68, Juniata 61
 
First Period

• Susquehanna opened up the game with a 23-point first quarter.
• The River Hawks went on a 10-point run, 16-6, until Cassidy Arnold's 2:32 layup brought the score to 17-8 in SU's favor.
• Brandt drained a three-point shot at 1:10 to hand the hosts their biggest lead of the first period, 22-8.
• Susquehanna shot 53.8-percent and went 8-for-10 at the free throw line in the first 10 minutes to stake a 13-point advantage at the end of the first.

 
Second Period

• Another Brandt bucket gave the River Hawks their biggest margin of the game – +15 points – with 2:25 left in the half as she converted a pass from junior guard Nevin Hoenninger (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) into a layup.
• Susquehanna headed into halftime with a 35-23 lead over the Eagles as Brandt led the way with six points in the quarter.

 
Halftime

• Brandt and Stauffer each had 10 points at the break to lead all players while junior captain Erin McQuillen (Cresskill, N.J./Cresskill) contributed to SU's +10 rebounding margin with eight first-half boards.
• Juniata shot 30-percent or below from the free throw line (30%) and the field (25.4%) while being held to 2-of-13 from behind the three-point arc.

 
Third Period

• Juniata turned the tables on the River Hawks, outscoring them, 21-13, in the third frame.
• The Eagles trimmed a 13-point deficit down to 46-42 with a 13-4 run in just under five minutes to head into the final quarter behind by only four points.
• Stauffer contributed 13 of Juniata's 21 points with four buckets, including a three-pointer, and going 4-for-4 at the line.
• McQuillen added six points to lead Susquehanna as she drained both of her three-pointers.

 
Fourth Period

• The Eagles kept with their third-quarter momentum, opening up the fourth on a 10-6 run to knot the contest at 52-52 on Grace Long's triple at 5:47.
• Brandt tallied half of the team's final 16 points while Esposito chipped in six.
• With 41 seconds on the clock and only 62-60 lead, Brandt picked up a key block and Esposito scored the fast-break basket as a result to deflate Juniata's rally.

 
Inside the Box Score

• Susquehanna ended the game with a lead time of 36:45 as the game featured four tied scores and just one lead change the entire game.
• SU shot 84.6 percent from the free throw line but the league's top sharpshooting team just went 4-of-16 from beyond the three-point line.
• The River Hawks scored 17 fast-break points, compared to just one by Juniata.
• The teams split top scoring quarters with two apiece as Susquehanna notched 20 or more points in the first and fourth periods while Juniata won the second and third frames.
• Susquehanna is now 52-34 all-time against the Eagles with two straight wins.

 
Top Performers

• Brandt led four starters in double-digit scoring.
• McQuillen and Hoenninger both finished the game with double-doubles. McQuillen contributed 14 points and 11 boards while Hoenninger chipped in 10 points and 11 caroms as well.
• Hoenninger finished three assists shy of a triple-double with a game-best seven assists plus added four steals and three blocks.
• Along with 31 points, Stauffer hauled in a game-best 16 rebounds for a double-double while Long chipped in 12 points with four triples.

 
Up Next for the River Hawks

• Season Complete

 
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