WASHINGTON, D.C. --- Senior guard Katie O'Rourke hit a pair of milestones and senior forward Laura Jordan picked up her first double-double of the season but it wasn't enough as the Moravian College women's basketball team saw a late second half lead slip away in an 82-77 overtime loss at The Catholic University of America in Landmark Conference action Saturday.
O'Rourke became the 19th player in school history to reach 500 rebounds early in the first half, and late in the game she became the fifth Greyhounds to hit the 300 assist plateau. O'Rourke finished the contest with 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Jordan paced Moravian with 18 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for her fourth career double-double. Jordan added five blocked shots for the Greyhounds, who had seven blocked shots to raise their NCAA Division III leading blocked shot total to 131 for the season.
Moravian, which dropped its first Landmark Conference game of the season and is 13-3 overall and 4-1 in Landmark action, had a total of four players in double figures with senior guard Danielle Brogan adding 13 points, six rebounds and four steals and sophomore forward Alesha Marcks netting 12 points, tying her career high, to go along with a career-best six assists and four rebounds. Sophomore guard Karine Polgar contributed nine points and five boards off of the bench.
Emily Grabiak led Catholic with 23 points and 15 rebounds while Josephine Migash had 19 points and six rebounds. Jayni Webster added 11 points for the Cardinals.
The Greyhounds jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead just four seconds into the game on a lay-up by O'Rourke, but Catholic answered with the next five points in the game. Jordan put the Hounds back in front, 8-7, with a jumper at 17:05, and a free throw by senior guard Alyssa Hann at 14:58 gave the Greyhounds a 14-11 edge.
The Cardinals answered with six straight points to take a 17-14 lead but Moravian would retake the lead, 20-19, on a jumper by Marcks with just over ten minutes remaining in the first half.
Catholic built a 25-21 lead with just under six minutes on the clock before back-to-back lay-ups from senior forward Ericka Blair and a jumper by Brogan put the Greyhounds back in the lead, 27-25, with 3:51 until the intermission.
O'Rourke gave Moravian its largest lead of the first half of four points, 29-25, with a pair of free throws with 1:19 before halftime; however, Catholic scored the last four points of the half to send the squads to the locker rooms tied at 29-29. The Greyhounds connected on 12-of-33 field goal attempts but just 4-of-8 free throws while the Cardinals were 8-for-29 from the floor and 12-of-16 at the charity stripe. Catholic also had a 25-23 edge in rebounds in the opening 20 minutes of action.
Jordan opened the second half with a jumper to move into double figures and give Moravian the lead. The Cardinals answered with nine straight points to build a 38-31 advantage before the Greyhounds took a timeout with 16:20 to play. Marcks ended the run with a lay-up and Brogan followed with a three-pointer to cut Catholic's lead to 38-36 just over a minute later.
After a timeout, the Greyhounds would retake the lead, 39-38, on a three-pointer from Polgar, and a jumper from Marcks pushed the Greyhounds ahead 41-38. Catholic answered with four points to retake the lead before driving lay-ups by O'Rourke and Polgar put the Hounds up 45-42 at the media break with 11:01 left.
The game continued to go back-and-forth with Catholic moving back ahead, 46-45, with 9:04 on the clock, but the lead didn't last long before Greyhounds' sophomore guard Emily MacDonnell hit a three-pointer and Marcks followed with a jumper to put Moravian back up 50-46 at the 7:42 mark.
The Cardinals answered with five straight points to go up 51-50 before Moravian would take a six-point lead, 57-51 on a Brogan three-pointer with 5:22 to play. Jordan hit a pair of free throws to put the Hounds up 59-54 before Catholic ran off five straight points to tie the contest at 59-59.
Polgar put the Greyhounds back in front, 62-59, with a three-pointer at the 3:32 mark. Jordan hit a lay-up for a 64-61 lead with 1:44 to play, and a free throw by Polgar had the Greyhounds up 67-65 with 44 seconds left in regulation. After Catholic tied the game, O'Rourke had an off balance jumper with six seconds left bounce off the rim and force the game into overtime.
Jordan gave Moravian the early lead in the five-minute overtime with a lay-up but the Cardinals took the lead for good, 71-69, on a Grabiak lay-up at the 3:48 mark. Catholic made three free throws in the final 41 seconds to seal the game but the Cardinals struggled from the line after halftime, making just 8-of-19 attempts while the Greyhounds were 7-for-10 in the final 25 minutes of action.
Moravian will return to action on Saturday, January 25 when the Greyhounds welcome Susquehanna University to Johnston Hall for a 4:00 p.m. Landmark Conference game.
