SCRANTON, Pa. – Senior point guard Katie O'Rourke hit two pressure-packed free throws with less than a second left to give the Moravian College women's basketball team a 66-65 victory at No. 25 The University of Scranton on Wednesday night.
The Greyhounds (15-3, 6-1) handed the Landmark Conference-leading Royals (15-3, 7-1) their first league loss of the season.
Scranton took a 65-62 lead on two free throws with 12 seconds left, and immediately fouled O'Rourke after the Moravian inbounds. The senior co-captain nailed both ends of the one-and-one to set the score at 65-64. The Royals failed to take a larger lead by missing the front end of a one-and-one, which was rebounded by sophomore guard/forward Alesha Marcks with only eight seconds remaining, setting up O'Rourke's heroics.
"Katie was devastated after her turnover during the last 20 seconds," said head coach Mary Beth Spirk. "She has ice in her veins. She said after the game she always wanted to know what it felt like to be in that moment. There was no hesitation and she was the perfect person to be on the line in that moment. She wanted to make up for a mistake that she made. That's how it was all game for the whole team. We always were able to come back with a steal or great defense to stay in the game."
In the final 3:27, the lead changed hands five times as Marcks and O'Rourke's layups each gave Moravian a one-point lead. Both times, Scranton had an answer. But timely and near-perfect free throw shooting from O'Rourke pulled off the Greyhounds' second win over a nationally-ranked team this season. The senior floor general finished with 20 points and seven assists, and has made 16 of her last 17 from the charity stripe.
Marcks tossed in a career-high 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting to go with five rebounds and two blocked shots. Senior forward Laura Jordan blocked eight shots and added seven points in the victory.
"These girls are so pumped," Spirk said. "It's the first time this group of seniors got a win in Scranton. It was so satisfying. We were down and out going into halftime, but I said let's just play hard and see what happens. We were tentative on offense and missed some assignments on defense. Katie and Alesha played their heart out and I'm really happy for them."
Two unanswered scoring runs of 11-0 and 8-0 in the second half put Moravian in the position to defeat Scranton in the Long Center for the first time since Dec. 5, 2009.
The Greyhounds had the first lead of the evening after Brogan went back-to-back with a three-pointer and a good jumper, respectively, for the 7-4 lead. The Royals would promptly erase that with a 6-1 run to take a 10-8 lead.
After O'Rourke made her ninth consecutive free throw dating back to Jan. 18, Scranton rattled off 10 straight points as the Greyhounds went 0-for-5 over the three-minute stretch.
The two sides would trade baskets over the next six minutes as the Royals maintained a double-digit lead at 35-23. Hann highlighted the Greyhounds' segment with four points, and O'Rourke extended her free throw streak to 11 in a row.
The Royals took a 37-29 lead into halftime despite shooting 39 percent from the floor. Scranton was aided by 12 first-half Greyhound turnovers and a 23-18 rebounding advantage, including 10 offensive boards.
Senior forward Ericka Blair scored the Greyhounds' first four points of the second half, and the Scranton lead was cut to 45-39 after a four-minute cold stretch by the Royals with 13:29 remaining.
The Greyhounds capped an 11-0 run with a Marcks jump shot to tie the score (45-45) for the first time since 15 apiece. The sophomore also made two free throws during the scoring run.
Scranton's Jaclyn Gantz ended the Royal silence with a three-pointer to put her side back ahead 48-45, but Marcks netted another jumper on the next Moravian possession.
The Royals continued to dominate the offensive glass and took a 54-49 lead with 8:14 to play after two more second-chance points.
Moravian put together another shutout scoring run, this time an 8-0 streak to take a 55-54 lead with 5:32 remaining in the contest. Jordan's jumper gave the Greyhounds their first lead since three minutes into the game.
Scranton finished with 17 offensive rebounds and came away with a 41-34 rebounding advantage, but could not grab the most important with eight seconds left.
"In the first half we got beat on the boards," Spirk said. "We came up with some big rebounds when it counted, including Marcks' at the end. Alesha gave us so much energy tonight. It really pushed us in the second half."
Moravian returns to Landmark Conference action just a half-game out of first place when they travel to Goucher College on Saturday at 7 p.m.
