WASHINGTON, D.C. --- The Moravian College women's basketball team had four players score in double figures with graduate student forward Alexis Wright leading the way with her 10th double-double of the season but the Greyhounds ended up falling to The Catholic University of America, 85-80, in Landmark Conference action in Washington, D.C. Saturday.
Wright had her 52nd career double-double with 18 points and 18 rebounds, and she also added four assists, three blocked shots and three steals. Wright is fourth in school history with 1,594 points and the school-record holder in rebounds with 1,166, and Wright moved into a tie for eighth with 199 career steals and a tie for seventh in games played at 112. Senior forward Alesha Marcks added 17 points to move up to 24th in school history with 1,021 points, and Marcks pulled down six boards.
Junior forward Camille McPherson had 17 points and six boards while junior guard Morgan Calabrese netted 15 points and grabbed six rebounds while dishing out a pair of assists. Sophomore forward Trista Cunningham had eight points while senior guard Samantha Caligiuri contributed five assists and four points for the Hounds.
After giving up the first two points of the game, Moravian scored nine straight points to take a 9-2 lead on a three-point play by Marcks at the 6:55 mark of the first period. Cunningham connected on a pair of free throws to push the lead to 10 points at 17-7, and a jumper from Calabrese had the Greyhounds up 21-8 with 1:56 before the Cardinals scored the final eight points to cut Moravian's lead to 21-16 after 10 minutes of action.
Early in the second quarter, McPherson connected on a three-point play that had the Blue and Grey leading 26-18 before Catholic went on a 12-3 run to take a 30-29 lead with 5:53 before the intermission. Wright gave Moravian the lead back on the next trip down the floor but the Cardinals scored 13 of the final 17 points of the first half to head to the locker room with a 43-35 lead.
Moravian worked its way back in the third quarter, pulling within two points on a McPherson three-point play at the 6:18 mark. Senior guard Karine Polgar made it a one-point game, 54-53, on a free throw with 1:12 left but the Cardinals hit a three-pointer to head to the final quarter leading 57-53.
Catholic pushed its lead back to eight points early in the final period before Moravian cut the deficit to two points, 68-66, on a three-point play by McPherson. Back-to-back baskets by Cunningham tied the game at 70-70 with 3:15 to go; however, the Cardinals scored the next seven points to take control again.
The Hounds return to Johnston Hall for the first time since January 13 when the squad hosts No. 6 The University of Scranton in a Landmark Conference contest on Wednesday, February 3 with tip-off slated for 7:00 p.m. in Bethlehem.
