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DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Alyssia Gordon hit a baseline jumper with 7.6 seconds remaining to lift eighth-seeded Juniata College to a 67-65 victory over top-seeded Delaware Valley College in the quarterfinals of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South Region Championships.

The victory improved the Eagles to 16-11 on the season and they will play fourth-seeded Widener University in the semifinals on Saturday, March 6 (time TBA). The semifinals and finals shift to the top remaining seed, No. 2 Saint Vincent College, which will battle sixth-seeded Alvernia University in the other semifinal contest. Ironically, Juniata was in the same position last year as the Eagles were the number eight seed and won three straight road games to take home the title.

For Delaware Valley, the loss was the Aggies' first of the year at home (11-1) and they finish the 2009-10 campaign with a 17-10 record – a six-game improvement from last year's 11-14 mark. Four of the five starters are back and they lose just two players to graduation.

Delaware Valley was down by as many as 12 and in the second half, but fought back and tied the contest at 65-65 on a patented drive and layup by senior Kim Vennera with just 20 seconds remaining. The Eagles crossed halfcourt and called timeout to set up their offense. With the clock ticking down, Gordon took a pass from Ashton Bank on the right baseline and sank a 15-footer for the 67-65 advantage.

Without any timeouts remaining, the Aggies raced downcourt and junior guard Brittany Battinieri got a great look at a floating layup. However, the ball went in and out of the basket, Bankos grabbed the rebound and Juniata had the victory.

Juniata used an 11-2 run in the latter stages of the first half to turn a 24-23 deficit into a 34-26 lead with 1:32 to go in the stanza. Three of the team's 10 three-pointers in the half came in the spurt and the Eagles took a 36-28 lead into the intermission.

Juniata increased its advantage to 49-37 at the halfway point of the second half. It still held an 11-point lead with less than eight minutes to go when Delaware Valley scored eight straight to make it a 54-51 game. The Eagles bumped it back up to a six-point ballgame on two occasions, including 62-56 with exactly three minutes on the clock. However, layups by Jackie Shunkwiler and Brittney Zimmerman, with an Emily Soper free throw in-between, cut it to 62-61 just 49 seconds later. 

Juniata had the ball, and with the shot clock winding down, Brittany Danel hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key while being fouled. She missed the ensuing free throw and Shunkwiler hit a pair from the foul line for a 65-63 scored with 1:03 remaining. Gordon missed a jumper at the other end, setting the stage for Vennera's tying basket and Gordon's game-winner. 

Ten different players scored for the Eagles with none of them reaching double digits. Natalie Glinsky had a team-high nine while Danel, Jen Hnatuck and Erin McGinley had eight apiece. Gordon finished with six points while Kelly Rotan led the way on the boards with 10. 

Vennera nearly had a triple-double in the final collegiate game of her career as the Freedom Conference Player of the Year finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals. She moved into third place on the Aggie all-time scoring list (surpassing her head coach Laura Hogan) with 1,427 points and also finished in the top 10 in six other career categories. Her seven steals upped her total to 254, just one shy of Hogan's record. 

Battinieri had a game-high 18 points while Freedom Conference Rookie of the Year Emily Soper added her seventh double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 boards. Sophomore guard Brittney Zimmerman contributed 10 points in the loss.