BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's basketball team attempted a fourth quarter rally after trailing by 12 points through 30 minutes of action but the Greyhounds ended up seeing their nine-game winning streak snapped in a 73-66 loss to No. 25 Albright College in non-conference action Saturday afternoon in Johnston Hall.
"We knew it was going to be tough, and I thought it was a little bit of a boxing match early as we went back-and-forth with nobody really playing that great," commented Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk. "They came out in the second half and really took it to us. I was pleased that we came back, fought them and had an opportunity to win the game but we were just a little bit off. Hopefully, we'll correct it. This was a game we wanted to win but the focus now is solely on conference play and that is what we're going to look forward after break."
The Greyhounds head into the semester layoff at 9-2, and the squad finishes its non-conference slate with a 7-2 mark as Saturday's contest with Albright was the team's final non-conference contest of the season. The game also marked just the second time that Moravian has shot below 40 percent from the floor as the Hounds were 24-for-69 (34.8 percent) from the floor.
Junior forward Camille McPherson led the Hounds with 19 points to go with five rebounds and a pair of steals while senior forward Alesha Marcks added 18 points, three boards and three steals. Senior guard Karine Polgar tossed in 10 points for Moravian, and she also had a team-high four assists to go with four rebounds.
Graduate student forward Alexis Wright led the Blue and Grey with 11 rebounds, and she contributed seven points, two blocked shots and a pair of steals while junior guard Morgan Calabrese added eight points and three boards. Senior guard Samantha Caligiuri had two assists and two points in the game.
The Greyhounds jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead on a pair of free throws by Caligiuri and a three-pointer from McPherson in the first minute of action, and Moravian led 8-2 after a Marcks' three-pointer with seven minutes left in the opening period. Albright fought back and the Blue and Grey needed a driving lay-up by Polgar at the buzzer to tie the game at 14-14 after 10 minutes of action.
Wright hit a jumper to open the second quarter to put Moravian back in the lead, and a free throw by Wright at the 7:43 mark had the Hounds up 21-18. However, the Lions finished the first half with a 17-10 run to head to the locker room with a 35-31 advantage.
Albright took control with an 11-0 run to start the third quarter as the Lions led 54-42 after 30 minutes of action as neither team scored in the final 2:45 of the third period.
Marcks started the fourth quarter with a three-point play before McPherson scored seven straight points as Moravian closed the gap to four points, 56-52, with 7:19 remaining. The Greyhounds cut the deficit to three points twice after three-pointers by McPherson and Calabrese but Albright connected on eight free throws in the final 1:04 to stymie the rally.
"We feel great about being 9-2 obviously at this point and more importantly at 2-0 in the conference," Spirk stated. "I said to the players that you have to take care of yourselves and keep on working at it so when we come back on December 28 that they are prepared to play.
Moravian has three weeks until its next contest with the Greyhounds not scheduled to return to action until Saturday, January 2, 2016 when the squad heads to Susquehanna University for a Landmark Conference game tipping off at 4:00 p.m. Moravian's final 14 games will all be against Landmark Conference opponents.
