HUNTINGDON Pa. (Jan. 2, 2016) – Senior captain Courtney Stephens scored 20 points to become the 10^th member of the Drew University women's basketball 1,000 Career Point Club as the Rangers defeated Juniata College, 65-57, to remain perfect in Landmark Conference play on the road Saturday.
 
Stephens only played 28 minutes due to some foul trouble, short of her average of 34 minutes per game, but she had just enough time to make Rangers history. During those 28 minutes, Stephens was a matchup nightmare for the Eagles (4-7, 0-3), scoring 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting to land exactly on 1,000 career points in her 88^th career contest.
 
Stephens is the first member to join the elite 1,000 Point Club since Danielle Barber in 2011 before she graduated in 2012 with 1,366 career points. With 1,000 points, Stephens now enters the top 10 scorers in Rangers history. Meanwhile, Drew stays perfect in league play at 3-0 and improves to 6-6 overall. The 3-0 start in the Landmark Conference is the best in program history since the league formed in 2007.
 
Sophomore guard Michaela Keegan played a large role in Drew bouncing back from a slow start offensively. Keegan's distribution and clutch free throw shooting contributed to a 29-point fourth quarter, which helped the Rangers pull away for the victory. Keegan netted 14 to go with three assists and an 8-of-10 mark from the free throw line, while junior guard Hannah Miller added 13. Junior Ryan Jackson pulled down a team-high nine rebounds, while Stephens and junior Sam Lane each had eight.
 
With Stephens in early foul trouble, the Rangers struggled to find a suitable offense in her absence. Drew scored just five points in the second period, but Juniata was not able to capitalize with just 10 of their own in the quarter, resulting in a slim 23-22 lead at halftime.
 
Drew still had trouble shaking the cold spell at the start of the third quarter as its first point came three minutes into the period on a Stephens free throw. With 2:51 left in the period and the Eagles up 37-29, Keegan sandwiched two buckets around a three-pointer from freshman Hailey Stine and the 7-0 run to end the quarter had Drew trailing 37-36.
 
The run was extended to 10-0 as Stephens started the fourth period with a three-point play. On the larger scale, the Rangers used a 16-2 run with Stephens, Stine and Keegan all hitting shots to give Drew the 45-39 lead with 7:32 to play. The lead would be cut to two, but Stephens went to work in the post while Keegan drew fouls and converted from the charity stripe.
 
Juniata stayed just close enough down the stretch as they resorted to trapping Stephens in the zone. The Rangers countered the strategy successfully by finding junior Courtney Trzasko open beyond the arc, where she converted two treys to put Drew up by eight, its largest lead of the game with two minutes left.
 
The final two minutes would rely on the Rangers converting their free throws as the Eagles hit some baskets and fouled in hopes of missed free throws. Drew held up its end by making 8-of-10 down the stretch for the win.
 
The Rangers finish up a four-game road stint at The University of Scranton on Tuesday, Jan. 5 for a Landmark Conference contest at 7:00 p.m.