BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's basketball team used another balanced scoring attack with three players in double figures and all 17 players seeing action as the Greyhounds won their ninth straight contest with a 79-37 victory over Wilkes University in non-conference action in Johnston Hall Wednesday evening.
"I was really pleased with our effort coming off of a big game against Catholic on Saturday," commented Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk. "We were obviously on a high and didn't want to look ahead to Albright on Saturday, who is undefeated and ranked in the Top 25. We had a little payback too after Wilkes beat us last year. I liked what we did by just taking care of business. To play everyone once again was really nice, and the balanced scoring again will help us keep getting a few more wins."
Senior forward Alesha Marcks led the Blue and Grey with 14 points to go along with seven rebounds, two blocked shots and a pair of steals in just 19 minutes of action while graduate student forward Alexis Wright added 11 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots in just 16 minutes. Senior guard Karine Polgar tossed in 10 points, grabbed a career-high eight rebounds, dished out three assists and blocked three shots in the game for Moravian, now 9-1 on the season.
Freshman guard Maggie Melhem contributed nine points, four rebounds and four steals while senior guard Morgan Calabrese had eight points, three boards and three assists for the Greyhounds. Junior forward Camille McPherson scored six points to go with three rebounds while sophomore guard Taylor Freeman had five points. Sophomore forward Trista Cunningham tossed in four points while sophomore forward Jen Cella added four rebounds and senior guard Samantha Caligiuri contributed four assists and three points.
right scored on Moravian's opening possession and Marcks followed with a jumper for a quick 4-0 lead in the first 45 seconds of action. Melhem made the Greyhounds' lead 7-2 with a three-pointer, and the Blue and Grey pushed the cushion to 13-2 with a jumper from McPherson at the 5:51 mark of the opening period. The Hounds' advantage reached 20 points on a three-pointer by Calabrese with 2:29 led in the first quarter, and Moravian ended the first 10 minutes of action with a 28-10 lead.
The Hounds scored the first 11 points of the second period to push the lead to 39-10 on a three-pointer from McPherson with 6:30 until intermission, and Moravian headed to the locker room with a 46-17 lead after shooting 16-for-34 from the field, 6-for-14 behind the three-point line and 8-for-10 at the foul line in the first half.
Moravian scored 11 of the first 13 points in the third quarter to open a 38-point lead, 57-19, with 4:39 left on the clock. The Hounds led by 39 points, 67-28, after 30 minutes of action, and the lead would get as big as 45 points, 76-31, on a lay-up by Freeman with 4:39 left in the contest.
The Greyhounds will play their final game before a three-week break on Saturday, December 12 when Moravian hosts Albright College, ranked No. 25 in this week's Women's Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today Division III Top 25 Poll. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. in Johnston Hall.
