BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The fourth seeded Moravian College women's basketball team is headed to the semifinals of the 2015 ECAC Division III South Tournament after defeating No. 6 seed Marywood University 64-59 in an overtime thriller in Johnston Hall Wednesday evening.
"To play again and to play at home and get our 15th win tonight was huge," said Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk. "We didn't play great but to grind it out in overtime is credit to the players. We could have hung our heads because nothing was going our way, nothing was dropping and we weren't getting any calls. We got frustrated and made a few mistakes but we came back and got a steal or made a three point play. For us to win after over a week and a half off was great, and it gives us another chance to play another game and go to Albright."
Senior forward Alexis Wright had her 40th career double-double scoring 15 points with 11 after halftime and grabbing 15 rebounds, and she added two blocked shots and two assists. Junior forward Alesha Marcks earned her sixth career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds going while also recording two blocks and two assists. Juniors guards Emily MacDonnell and Samantha Caligiuri both tossed in 10 points apiece while Caligiuri had a team and career-high seven steals.
The Greyhounds trailed most of the first half, Wright would make it a three point game with a layup after just over six minutes of play. Junior guard Marie Rossignoli hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to two, 11-9, with 12:09 in the first half. Marcks would hit a jumper to keep the Hounds within one point trailing 15-14.
Caligiuri would tie the game for the second time in the half, making it 19-19 with 5:20 before halftime. MacDonnell was on a fast break with just over a minute to play before half, pulled up to fake the defender for the easy layup, but the Blue and Grey would head to the locker room five points behind the Pacers, 28-23, at half time.
Wright scored the first two points of the second half cutting the lead to three points. Marywood would take and extend a lead to 12 points, 41-29, with 11:49 left. The Hounds answered with a 13-1 run to take their first lead of the contest. With 7:04 left in the game freshman forward Trista Cunningham, who contributed six points, six rebounds, two assists and a block on the night, made it a one point game with a made layup. The next trip down the court Marcks, who went 5-of-6 from the charity stripe which earned her the top spot in school history recording 155 free throws in a season, knocked down two free throws for a 43-42 lead for the Greyhounds.
The teams would battle for points in the last five minutes of the contest and would see the score of 53-53 for the eight tie of the game sending things into overtime. Moravian has held without a point over the final two minutes of regulation.
Cunningham would convert a three-point play with a layup and a made free throw in overtime after the Pacers scored the first four points of the extra session. Wright would tie the game 58-58 with 2:48 left in overtime on the next trip down the court while Caligiuri gave the Hounds the lead for good with two free throws. Wright put up another two points with a layup while Caligiuri and MacDonnell both added free throws for the 64-59 victory.
The Greyhounds move on to the semifinals on Saturday, March 7 at 2:00 p.m. to face off with No. 1 seed and host to the ECAC Division III South Tournament Albright College. The squads met back on December 14 in Reading with the Lions posting a 75-71 overtime win.
