BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's basketball team used a strong third quarter en route to a 73-49 win over Drew University in Landmark Conference action in Johnston Hall Wednesday evening, and with other results around the conference, the victory also clinched a berth in the 2016 Landmark Conference Tournament for the Greyhounds.
Moravian is now 17-5 overall and 10-3 in Landmark Conference action this season. After missing the Landmark Conference Tournament last year for the first time in the history of the conference, the Greyhounds are now guaranteed to play in a semifinal game on Wednesday, February 23. If the Hounds win their final three Landmark Conference contests, then that playoff game will be in Johnston Hall with Moravian earning the second seed in the four-team tournament.
"It is really exciting to be back in the playoffs," commented Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk, who is heading to the postseason for the 26th time in her 29 seasons leading the Greyhounds' program. "That is what our goal was to begin the season, to get playoffs. We were really disappointed to not get in last year so it was nice to check that off of the list. Now we want to host a game and we have the chance to do that if we can get a few more wins here."
Junior forward Camille McPherson led a trio of Greyhounds in double figures with 20 points, and she tied her career high with nine rebounds. Graduate student forward Alexis Wright had her 12th double-double of the season and the 54th of her career with 10 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Wright, who moved into a tie for second with her 115th game played and is now two rebounds shy of 1,200 in her career, also had three blocked shots in the game. Junior guard Morgan Calabrese tossed in 11 points, all in the first half.
"I thought we started a little sluggish tonight, and I figured that is the way it was going to go after coming off an emotional win on Saturday with all the festivities from our Play 4Kay game and alumni day," stated Spirk. "I knew this was going to be a little bit of a struggle. Fortunately, Camille played tough in the beginning and then we came out in the second half and I thought our defense was outstanding. We also made some shots then."
Senior guard Samantha Caligiuri had seven points and three rebounds in the victory for Moravian. Senior forward Alesha Marcks added six points to move into 20th in school history with 1,057 points, and Marcks added three rebounds and three blocked shots to become the seventh player in school history with 100 blocked shots at 102 in her career while senior guard Karine Polgar had six points and four boards. Senior guard Emily MacDonnell had four steals for the Blue and Grey while freshman guard Maggie Melhem added three steals and a pair of assists. MacDonnell and Melhem were two of five Greyhounds that each netted two points while senior guard Marie Rossignoli had three points.
Drew opened the scoring with a three-pointer and would jump out to a 7-2 lead. The Rangers pushed the lead to 15-9 with 3:25 left in the first quarter and then 17-11 with 2:25 on the clock. The Greyhounds scored the final eight points of the first period with Melhem hitting a lay-up to give Moravian a 19-17 lead after the first 10 minutes of action.
The Blue and Grey would maintain the lead from that point through the end of the contest. Caligiuri pushed the lead to nine points, 29-20, with five minutes to go in the first half before a 9-2 run from the Rangers cut Moravian's advantage to two points. Calabrese connected on a three-point play with just 31 ticks before the intermission as the Greyhounds headed to the locker room with a 36-30 lead.
Early in the third quarter, Drew cut the Moravian advantage to two points again at 38-36, but the Hounds turned up the defense and limited the Rangers to just one point the remainder of the period. Moravian had a 15-1 run over the final 6:37 of the third quarter with McPherson hitting a three-pointer for a double-digit lead at 49-37, and a steal and lay-up from MacDonnell making it 53-37 for the Greyhounds after 30 minutes of action.
The Blue and Grey would keep their lead about 14 points throughout the final quarter for the victory.
Moravian will play its final Landmark Conference road game of the season on Saturday, February 13 when the squad heads to Elizabethtown College for a 4:00 p.m. tip-off.
