BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's basketball team jumps right into its 2015-16 schedule on Saturday, November 14 with a home contest versus rival Muhlenberg College with tip-off slated for 7:00 p.m. in Johnston Hall on the campus of Moravian College.
Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk begins her 29th season at the helm of women's team holding a 522-250 record. The team returns 12 players as well as all five of the team's starters, last season's team finished with a 15-12 record and qualified for the ECAC DIII South tournament, where they played in the semi and quarterfinals.
"We are really excited for the beginning of the season. We have been practicing for the last four weeks and we are ready to play someone new," commented Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk. "This is a really nice position to be in with all five starters from last season returning, but not only do we have the starters we have a group of good players that have a bunch of experience behind them. We have a lot of different options out there and it is going to be exciting but it is going to be tough to figure out who is going to be playing."
Graduate student forward Alexis Wright looks forward to playing in her final year of eligibility for the Greyhounds. Last season, Wright averaged a double-double with 15.6 points and 12.1 rebounds per game. She racked up 420 points, 327 rebounds, 65 blocks, 59 steals, and 41 assists. She is eight in the record books for points with 1,341 and second in rebounds with 948. Last winter she was named to the Landmark Conference All-Conference First Team, Landmark Defensive Player of the Year, D3hoops.com All-Mid-Atlantic Region Second Team, and the ECAC Division III South All-Star Second Team.
Senior forward Alesha Marcks looks to pick up where she left off last season. Last year Marcks started in all 27 games for the Hounds was tied for the team lead in points per game with 15.6 while pulling down 213 rebounds, 60 assists, 44 steals and 41 blocks. At the end of the season Marcks was named to the Landmark Conference All-Conference First Team for her play throughout the season.
Senior guard Emily MacDonnell also started all 27 games last season and averaged 31 minutes per game while adding 194 points, 84 assists, 55 rebounds, 30 steals and 10 blocks. Also returning is senior guard Samantha Caligiuri, who transferred to Moravian at the beginning of the second half of the season and contributed important minutes to the Blue and Grey. Caligiuri played in only 17 games last season, however in those 17 games she averaged 32 minutes per game and scored 105 points. She also tallied 38 steals, 31 rebounds, 25 assists and two blocks.
Junior guard Morgan Calabrese also returns from starting all 27 games last season for the Greyhounds. Last season Calabrese averaged slightly under 10 points per contest and scored 256 points on the season. She also racked up 109 rebounds, 49 assists, 44 steals and six blocks.
The Blue and Grey also return seven other players from last year's squad. Senior forwards Marie Rossignoli and Karlee Corvasce both look to contribute significant minutes off the bench for their senior years. Last year Rossignoli scored 93 points, 62 rebounds, 10 steals, six assists and three blocks while Corvasce tallied 20 points, 28 rebounds, 11 assists, seven blocks and two steals.
Also coming off the bench for the Greyhounds will be sophomore forward Trista Cunningham and sophomore guard Taylor Freeman, who both saw important playing time last season. Cunningham scored 136 points, 85 rebounds, 11 steals and eight assists in 23 games while Freeman knocked down 103 points, 45 rebounds, 18 steals and 17 assists.
Sophomore forward Jen Cella, junior forward Courtney Kruscavage and sophomore guard Victoria McCaslin will all add depth to the Greyhounds bench.
The team also added four new freshmen to the squad as well as one transfer student, that include guard Kaeli White, guard Maggie Melhem, forward Kaitlyn Roberto, guard/forward Caitlin Flanagan and junior forward Camille McPherson.
After the season opener, the Hounds will play six more non-conference games including a trip to the Richard Stockton College Tournament on November 21 and 22 before opening the 2015-16 Landmark Conference season on Wednesday, December 2 when the Greyhounds are slated to head to Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland for a 7:00 p.m. start.
