BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's basketball team has earned the third seed in the 2014 Landmark Conference Tournament and will travel to second seed The Catholic University of America in a semifinal game on Wednesday, February 26 tipping off at 7:00 p.m. in Washington, D.C.
Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children. All youth under the age of 10 are admitted free as are all students with a valid ID from any of the eight Landmark Conference institutions. College students without a Landmark school ID are $3.
The Greyhounds are 19-6 overall this season and finished the Landmark regular season with a 10-4 mark. The Cardinals are 19-5 overall and were 12-2 in Landmark action. During the regular season, Catholic won both games including an 82-77 overtime win in Washington on January 18 and the finale of the regular season last Saturday, 76-64, in Johnston Hall.
Wednesday's other semifinal game has top seed The University of Scranton hosting fourth seed Juniata College at 7:30 p.m. The top remaining seed will host the 2014 Landmark Conference title game with an automatic berth to the 2014 NCAA Division III Tournament on the line.
Moravian Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk has the Greyhounds heading to the postseason for the 13th straight season, and for the 24th time in her 27 seasons leading the Moravian program. Spirk has a career record of 506-236 and is looking to lead the Greyhounds to their fourth conference title that would go with a Landmark championship in 2010 and Middle Atlantic Conference titles in 1991 and 1992. Spirk has led Moravian to the NCAA Division III Tournament seven times in her tenure including the NCAA Division III National Championship game in 1992.
Leading the Greyhounds on the court this season has been senior guard Katie O'Rourke. O'Rourke is netting a team high 13.3 points per game, and she is grabbing 4.7 rebounds per contest. She also has a team high 90 assists with just 83 turnovers, and O'Rourke is tied for second on the squad with 35 steals while leading the team at the foul line at 83.5 percent( 96-for-115).
Senior guard Danielle Brogan is tossing in 9.9 points per outing with a team high 40 three-pointers while sophomore forward Alesha Marcks has averages of 8.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. Marcks leads the Hounds in shooting from the floor at 51.9 percent (84-for-162) to go with 47 assists, 21 steals and 21 blocked shots while Brogan has added 14 assists, 12 steals and an average of 4.4 rebounds per contest.
Senior forward Laura Jordan has led Moravian to a new school record in blocked shots by a team at 224 with Jordan recording 88 of the rejections. The Hounds lead all of NCAA Division III at 9.0 blocked shots per game, and Jordan is fifth individually at 3.67. She is also contributing a team-high 5.5 rebounds per outing to go with 8.3 points per game, and Jordan has 41 assists and 21 steals while shooting 49.1 percent (84-171) from the field and 83.0 percent (39-for-47) at the charity stripe.
Senior forward Ericka Blair has been another force inside for the Hounds since junior forward Alexis Wright was lost to a season-ending injury on December 9. Blair has contributed 7.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per contest to go with 28 blocked shots, 26 assists and 22 steals while moving into the starting lineup.
Senior guard Alyssa Hann leads Moravian with 55 steals to go with 57 assists against just 46 turnovers, and she has added 61 rebounds while scoring 4.6 points per game. Freshman guard Nellie Tanguay has contributed 79 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists in her debut season, and she is second on the squad with 19 three-pointers. Junior guard Emily MacDonnell has 78 points, 50 assists, 14 assists and 15 three-pointers this winter while freshman guard Morgan Calabrese has 66 points, 25 rebounds, 15 steals, 14 assists and 16 treys in her debut season.
Freshman forward Natalie Vanderlaan-Meyering has contributed 39 points, 26 rebounds and 16 blocked shots in a reserve role for the Greyhounds while sophomore guard Marie Rossignoli has 41 points and 29 boards. Sophomore forward Karlee Corvasce has seen more action in the second half of the season while adding 30 rebounds and 18 points. Moravian also has received contributions from freshmen Tristen Hamilton, Cori Weiss, Courtney Kruscavage and Shannon Zimmerman.
The Cardinals are coached by Matt Donohue, who is in his sixth season at the school and has led the program to back-to-back Landmark titles in 2012 and 2013.
On the court, Catholic is led by senior guard Emily Grabiak, who is averaging 16.4 points and 9.0 rebounds per game to go along with team-highs of 104 assists and 79 steals. Sophomore forward Josephine Migash is contributing 12.4 points and 5.7 boards a game while sophomore guard Jayni Webster is scoring 10.6 points per contest with a team-high 47 three-pointers.
