BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Moravian College women's basketball team fell to Landmark Conference rival The University of Scranton, 72-59, in the first ever Teddy Bear Toss game. Junior forward Erin Boggan led the Royals (16-9, 11-3 Landmark) to victory with a double-double off of 11 points and ten rebounds.
At halftime, fans attending the game threw more than 150 teddy bear's onto the basketball court in the first Teddy Bear Toss here at Moravian College.
Moravian (15-10, 8-6 Landmark) would get on the board first with a layup from freshman forward Alexis Wright. Three minutes in, Scranton senior guard Sindey Jaques would drive to the hole, and make the shot while drawing the foul. She would convert the free throw to knot the game at three. Sophomore guard Alison Sweeney would give the Royals a 5-3 lead after a layup on the next possession.
With 15:20 on the clock, sophomore guard Danielle Brogan would hit a deep three-pointer to tie the contest at seven. Junior guard Katerine Torto answered right back for Scranton with a three of her own on the next possession. Moments later junior forward Taylor Pallotta extended the Royals lead to 13-7 with 14 minutes to play in the half.
Sophomore guard Alyssa Hann would hit a three from the corner to bring the Hounds within six points at 16-10 with 12:15 to play in the first half. Wright would respond two minutes later with a layup while drawing the foul. She would convert the free throw for the three-point play to make the score 18-14, Scranton.
Wright and senior guard Hilary Murray would both hit two free throws to tie the game back up 18 with 8:30 left in the half. Freshman guard Lindsay Fluehr would make a jumper on the next possession to put Scranton back up 20-18. Junior guard Christina Hiltunen pushed the Royals lead to seven after a three from straight away to go up 25-18 with 6:13 remaining in the first half.
With just under four minutes left in the half Wright would hit a jumper to bring the Greyhounds within one point of the lead at 27-26, but Fluehr answered with back-to-back three pointers to push Scranton's lead to 33-26.
Senior forward Alexandra Blair would end the Royals run with a layup to make the score 35-28 with two minutes left in the half. That would be it for the first half as Scranton would take a 35-28 lead into the locker room.
Moravian shot 28-percent from the field while Scranton shot 35-percent from the field in the first half. Both teams committed eight turnovers, but the Royals held the edge in rebounds at 27 to 17. Wright led the Greyhounds with nine points in the half while Fluehr led the Royals with eight points and three rebounds.
Boggan would net the first bucket of the second half with a layup to give Scranton a 37-28 lead, two minutes in. Sweeney would come back on the next possession with a three-pointer to push the Royals lead to double-digits at 40-28, three minutes into the half.
Blair and Wright would go for back-to-back buckets to bring Moravian back within single digits of the lead at 43-36 with 15:13 remaining in the game. Sophomore forward Laura Jordan would then go on her own run with a three-pointer from straight away. On the next possession she would drive for the layup and make the layup while drawing the foul. She would convert the free throw to bring the Greyhounds within one point of the lead at 43-42 with 14:17 remaining in the contest.
Two minutes junior guard Amanda Kreuder drove to the hoop for the tough layup to knot the game at 46. After a foul that sent sophomore guard Katie O'Rourke (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra), the Greyhounds would take the lead back at 47-46 after she converted one-of-two free throws. Kreuder would hit another layup to put Moravian up 49-46 with 10:44 remaining in the game.
A jumper from Boggan would end the Greyhounds 15-3 scoring run to make the score 51-48 with 9:21 left in the game. After a free throw from Pallota, Sweeney would steal the ball and go in for the layup to tie the game back at 51 with 8:20 to play. Boggan would put the Royals back on top on the next possession with a 15 foot jumper.
After a layup from Hann, freshman forward Meredith Mesaris responded with a three-pointer to put the Ryoals up 60-55 with 3:44 remaining in the contest. After a couple of buckets from Scranton, O'Rourke would net one of her own to make the score 64-57, Scranton, with 1:31 left in the game. That would be it for the Greyhounds as they would fall 72-59.
Wright led the way for Moravian with 13 points, four rebounds and two blocks. Blair brought down eight rebounds to go with her 11 points while Kreuder totaled 11 points and five boards. Jordan tallied eight points and five rebounds in the contest.
Fluehr had 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists while Pallotta scored ten points to go with seven rebounds. Jaques brought down nine points and five boards while Sweeney had 11 points and two blocks.
Moravian shot 28-percent from the field while Scranton shot 37-percent from the field for the game. Both teams committed 14 turnovers while the Royals held the rebounding edge, 34 to 32.
Moravian, #4 seed, will return to action on Wednesday, February 22nd as they take on #1 seed Juniata College in the Landmark Conference semifinals. The time of the contest is TBA.
