The Moravian College women's basketball team defeated The College of New Jersey, 66-60, Thursday evening in a non-conference game for the squad's third straight win. The Greyhounds were led by sophomore guard Katie O'Rourke, who scored 17 points and had four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Moravian (4-4 overall) got on the board first after O'Rourke stole the ball and passed to senior forward Alexandra Blair for the easy lay in. After two free throws made by the Lions (5-4 overall), freshman forward Alexis Wright would lay the ball in while being fouled, she would then convert the free throw for the three-point play.
With 15:29 remaining in the first half, senior guard Katie Occhipinti would hit a three for TCNJ to tie the game at 11, but O'Rourke would counter with a three of her own to put the Hounds back up at 14-11. Then a lay-in from Wright and three from sophomore guard Danielle Brogan would give Moravian at 19-11 lead with 12:44 left in the half.
After freshman guard Kelly Coughlin hit a three for the Lions, the Greyhounds went on a 7-0 run to put them up 26-14 at the 8:44 mark of the first half. The two teams would keep exchanging baskets the rest of the half, and TCNJ made up some ground as Moravian would take a 34-30 lead into halftime.
Sophomore forward Liz West of TCNJ would hit a jumper to start the second half and bring them within two points of the lead. Senior guard Hilary Murray came right back with a lay-in. Then Wright would go in for a layup, and make it while getting fouled on the play, she would convert the free throw for a 39-32 lead.
With just under 16 minutes left in the game, Wright would nail another layup to extend Moravian's lead to nine points. The Lions then scored four unanswered points to make the score 41-36 with 14 minutes to go, but O'Rourke would stop that run an easy lay-in. Then Blair would net two straight jumpers to give the Hounds a ten point lead at 48-38 with just under 12 minutes remaining in the contest. Junior guard Amanda Kreuder hit another jumper right after Blair as the Greyhounds pushed their lead to 12 points.
The Lions would start to battle back with a three from Coughlin, but Blair would answer with a jumper as the score is 52-41 with 9:20 remaining in regulation. TCNJ would then go on a 12-0 scoring run in the next four minutes of play to take a 53-52 lead with 5:33 to go in the second half. Moravian would end the Lions run and retake the lead with a lay-up from Blair. Then O'Rourke would hit one-of-two free throws to push their lead to three points at 3:41 remaining. Blair would get fouled on Moravian's next possession, and she would convert both free throws for a 57-53 lead with just over three minutes to go in the game.
The Greyhounds would continue their run with another jumper for Blair, and after a miss by the Lions, O'Rourke would convert two free throws for a 61-53 lead with 1:20 to go in the game. That would be all the Lions had in them as the Greyhounds went onto win 66-60.
Blair finished with a team-high 18 points and seven rebounds while Wright had 11 points and six rebounds. Kreuder put six points and two rebounds while Murray and Brogan each had five points.
Coughlin led the way for the Lions with 15 points while West had 12 points and nine rebounds. Occhipinti had a team-high five assists to go with her seven points.
Moravian shot 41.1 percent from the while New Jersey shot 36.7 percent from the field.
The Greyhounds return to action Saturday, December 10th as they host Albright College in a non-conference game. The contest is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Johnston Hall.
