MONTCLAIR, N.J. --- The Moravian College women's basketball team shook off a sluggish first period and a halftime deficit with an early run in the third quarter to win its sixth straight game in a 65-58 non-conference road win over No. 12 Montclair State University Monday evening.
After dropping their season opener by three points on a night that the Greyhounds shot below 30 percent, the Blue and Grey have run off six straight wins while shooting over 40 percent from the floor in each of the victories. Moravian, now 6-1 overall this season, was 12-for-21 from the field (57.1 percent) over the final 20 minutes Monday evening against the Red Hawks and shot 42.3 percent (22-of-52) for the game.
Moravian had three players in double figures with senior forward Alesha Marcks and graduate student forward Alexis Wright each picking up double-doubles. Marcks had 15 points and 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the year and ninth of her career to go along with two assists and three steals, and Marcks was 7-for-8 at the foul line as the Greyhounds went 17-for-20 at the charity stripe including 15-of-16 in the second half. Wright added 12 rebounds and 11 points for her fifth double-double of the season and 47th of her career. Wright increased her school record for rebounds to 1,028 in her 100th career game, and she blocked a pair of shots to go with three assists and two steals in the contest.
Junior forward Camille McPherson netted 15 points for the Hounds while going 4-for-4 at the foul line in the final minute of action, and McPherson grabbed four boards and added two assists. Senior guard Karine Polgar tossed in seven points to go with three rebounds for Moravian while senior guard Samantha Caligiuri, junior guard Morgan Calabrese and freshman guard Maggie Melhem all scored five points. Calabrese added a pair of rebounds while Melhem had two assists.
Senior guard Emily MacDonnell grabbed four rebounds and added a pair of assists while sophomore forward Trista Cunningham had Moravian's other two points in the game.
The Red Hawks built an early 6-2 lead before a 5-0 run put Moravian ahead 7-6 on a free throw by Marcks at the 4:07 mark of the opening period. Montclair State had a seven-point run to take a 15-9 lead and the Red Hawks had a 17-12 advantage after 10 minutes of action.
Montclair State led the entire second quarter with Moravian cutting the lead to a point twice, both on baskets by McPherson, the second with just 59 seconds before the intermission. However, the Red Hawks had a 23-22 lead at the break.
Moravian started the third quarter with a 9-0 run with Melhem scoring all five of her points and Marcks making the Greyhounds' lead 31-23 with 6:32 still to play in the period. The Blue and Grey kept their advantage over five points for the rest of the third quarter, and the Hounds headed to the final period with a 47-39 lead after two free throws from Marcks.
The Red Hawks answered Moravian with a 9-0 run of its own to start the fourth quarter to take a 48-47 lead with 8:41 to play. The Greyhounds wouldn't score in the final period until a lay-up by Cunningham at the 6:23 mark that put Moravian back in front, 49-48. The game would see two more lead changes and a tie at 52-52 before a lay-up by McPherson and a jumper from Marcks put the Hounds in front for good with 2:15 remaining. Moravian would make 9-of-10 free throws in the final 1:08 to seal the victory.
The Greyhounds will continue their season-long five-game road trip with the team's 2015-16 Landmark Conference opener on Wednesday, December 2 at Goucher College with tip-off slated for 7:00 p.m.
