SCRANTON, Pa. --- Senior guard Katie O'Rourke reached the 1,000-point milestone and became the first player in school history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists and 200 steals but it wasn't enough as the Moravian College women's basketball team fell to top seed and host The University of Scranton in the Landmark Conference Tournament Championship game Saturday.
With the loss, the Greyhounds, who were ranked fifth in the final Mid-Atlantic Regional Rankings last Wednesday, will now wait until Monday, March 3 when the NCAA announces its first of 64 teams for the 2014 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament with First Round games on March 7. The selection show will air at 2:30 p.m. Monday on NCAA.com. Moravian, 20-7 overall, will be fighting for one of the 20 Pool C/at-large berths into the field. Six of the Greyhounds seven losses came against teams that were ranked in their region in the final rankings last week.
"Unfortunately, we didn't play our best game today," stated 27th–year Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk. "Scranton is a very good team, and they make you play that way at times."
O'Rourke finished the game with 13 points and became the 23rd player in school history to surpass the 1,000-point milestone with 12:22 to play on a long jumper from the top of the key. O'Rourke now has 1,008 points, 518 rebounds (17th in the Moravian record books), 349 assists (third all-time) and 201 steals (seventh in school history).
"Katie has been tremendous this year as a captain for the second straight season, and she's had an amazing career," Spirk said. "For me, it is hard to believe that will all of the players that I've coached that she is the first one to hit all of those numbers."
Senior forward Ericka Blair led the Hounds with 16 points and five boards while senior guard Danielle Brogan tossed in 13 points to go with seven rebounds. Senior Alyssa Hann chipped in seven points to go with five assists while senior forward Laura Jordan finished with seven rebounds, four points and three blocked shots.
"Our five seniors wanted to have a great year, and they have,: Spirk explained. "We got where we wanted to be in a championship game, unfortunately someone has to win and someone has to lose this game. I'm proud of their effort since there ar not a lot of teams that get to play for their conference championship each year. We still have our hopes alive for an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament."
Meredith Mesaris of Scranton, who was named the Landmark Tournament's Most Valuable Player, scored a game-high 26 points with seven rebounds while Sarah Payonk added 13 points and nine boards. Lisa DiSciascio contributed 12 points and eight rebounds for the Royals.
The Greyhounds got off to a hot start after the opening tip-off when Brogan her first of three treys in the game just seven seconds into the contest. Moravian build that lead up to 13-5 just over five minutes into action on a three-pointer from freshman guard Nellie Tanguay.
However, the Hounds went cold from the floor over the next six minutes as Scranton had a 10-1 run to take a 15-14 lead. Blair hit a jumper to break the scoring slump with just under nine minutes until the intermission to put Moravian back in front. The teams traded baskets with Brogan's jumper at 8:12 giving the Hounds an 18-17 advantage.
That ended up being Moravian's final lead of the contest as Scranton out-scored the Greyhounds, 17-7 over the final eight minutes of the first half and heading to the locker room with a 34-25 lead.
The Royals came out strong to start the second half and eventually built a 17-point lead, 49-32. The Hounds kept fighting and eventually worked the deficit down to seven points, 61-54, with two and a half minutes to play but Moravian was unable to slow down Scranton.
"Every time we would get something going, they would make a play, beat us to a loose ball, or stick a shot," Spirk said. "They are a very good team and their inside game dominated us today.
The Royals sealed the game at the free throw line, making 27-of-39 attempts while the Greyhounds were just 9-for-14 at the charity stripe. Scranton also had a 52-33 edge in rebounds including a 20-5 advantage on the offensive glass.
Should the Greyhounds miss out on the NCAA Tournament on Monday, the ECAC will announce the field for its eight-team South Tournament Championship Monday evening with first round games set for Wednesday, March 5.
