McFadden And Williams Both Score 20 Points In Goucher Women's Basketball Loss To Juniata

BALTIMORE, Md. – Goucher College lost to Juniata College in Landmark Conference women's basketball action on Wednesday.

Alayna McFadden (Silver Spring, Md./Montgomery Blair) paced the Gophers with 23 points along with six rebounds. The sophomore scored 20 points for the first time in front of the Decker Sports and Recreation faithful after registering her first six 20-point performances on the road. While it is McFadden's first 20-point game at home, four of her other 20-point tilts came in the DMV. She is now 25 points away 600 points in her career and will become the 18th player in program history to eclipse that mark. The sophomore has 10 game with at least 10 points this season and 27 in her career.

Anise Williams (West Palm Beach, Fla./The Benjamin School) added 20 points and a career-high nine steals. Williams became the 17th player in program history to reach 600 points in her career with her fourth 20-point performance of the season and first at home. The sophomore, who now has 613 points in 40 career games, has posted eight games with at least 20 points with four each coming at home and on the road while she has posted double figures in points for the 33rd time in her career. She matched her career high of nine steals after recording nine thefts at Juniata on January 16, 2019.  

The sophomore sensation duo of McFadden and Williams have both scored 20 points in the same contest four times, but the game against the Eagles marked the first time the Gophers have lost when they both turned the trick.

Kyani Quarles (Houston, Texas/Cristo Rey Jesuit) tallied 11 points and eight rebounds. The freshman posted her third-straight game in double figures for the first time in her career and is averaging 14.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in those three tilts. She has tallied double figures in points eight times this season and nine times she has hauled in at least nine boards in a game.

Goucher fell behind 12-0 and trailed 27-16 after the first quarter.

A 9-4 run to start the second period cut the margin to 31-25 with 5:17 on the clock. Quarles had seven of the nine points in the spurt thanks to a layup and five free throws while seven of the points came from the charity stripe. The Gophers cut the deficit to five points two more times in the stanza, but went into the locker room with Juniata leading 41-34.

Goucher scored six of the first eight points in the second half to trim the margin to 43-40 with 6:57 left in the third quarter. Quarles had a traditional 3-point play and Claire Flynn (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) hit a basket from behind the arc during this stretch.

The Eagles then went on a 12-1 run to take a 55-41 lead with 2:11 left in the third frame before the host scored eight of the final 10 points of the period to trim the margin to 57-49 including Williams hits a highlight triple at the buzzer. Juniata then outscored the Gophers 29-15 to earn an 86-64 win.

Goucher returns to action on Saturday at Moravian College. Game time is 4 p.m.