BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's basketball team had all five starters reach double figures Friday afternoon as the Greyhounds defeated Penn State Lehigh Valley, 83-74, in the opening round of the 14th Roosevelt's 21st Greyhound Classic in Johnston Hall.
The Hounds, playing for the first time in 20 days, improve to 8-3 with the victory and advance to Saturday's championship game versus Lebanon Valley College, a 62-57 winner over Delaware Valley University in the other first round game on Friday.
"After a long lay off, I thought we came out strong and was pleased with our effort early," commented Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk. "We need to maintain that effort for the full 40 minutes. We had a few lulls where we did not execute well. PSLV did a good job of taking us out of our rhythm. Again, this is a process, and hopefully we will keep leaning and getting better each game."
Senior forward Camille McPherson led Moravian with 23 points to go with five rebounds and a pair of assists while freshman guard Maddie Capuano added a career-high 20 points, all in the first three quarters, to go along with four assists and four steals. Freshman forward Nadine Ewald contributed 12 points and six boards while freshman guard Karlie Brogan had 11 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a pair of blocked shots. Senior guard Morgan Calabrese added 10 points, seven boards, a career-high seven assists and three steals for the Greyhounds.
Junior forward Trista Cunningham had a team-high nine rebounds for the Blue and Grey to go with three points and a pair of blocked shots while junior center Ciara Stewart added three rebounds, two blocked shots and two points. Sophomore forward Ariana Caiati contributed two points and two boards while junior guard Taylor Freeman had two rebounds.
Moravian would lead the entire game after Brogan nailed an opening three-pointer just 15 seconds into action. Another trey by Brogan pushed the Greyhounds advantage to 18-7 with 6:10 left in the first quarter, and the Blue and Grey led 26-21 after 10 minutes of action.
The Nittany Lions, who lost for the first time in 2016-17 after a 7-0 start, closed within two points, 30-28, just two minutes into the second quarter, However, Capuano pushed the lead back into double digits at 40-29 with a jumper at the 2:07 mark. Moravian headed to the locker room with a 43-36 advantage.
Penn State Lehigh Valley closed again early in the third quarter to trail just 47-44 1:44 into the period. Capuano would give the Hounds a 62-48 lead with a three-pointer at the 2:58 mark, and Moravian headed to the final quarter with a 66-54 edge.
The Greyhounds would see their lead reach 15 points on three occasions in the final quarter, the final time on a free throw by Cunningham with 5:04 left in the game to lead 79-64.
Moravian will return to action on Saturday, December 31 in the championship game of the 14th Roosevelt's 21st Greyhound Classic versus Lebanon Valley College at 1:00 p.m. in Johnston Hall. Delaware Valley University and Penn State Lehigh Valley will play in the consolation game at 11:00 a.m.
