SELINSGROVE, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's basketball team saw a 13-point first half lead slip away before forcing an extra session in a 76-69 overtime victory at Susquehanna University in Landmark Conference action Saturday.
The Greyhounds are now 10-3 on the season with their third straight win after a 20-day holiday break, and Moravian is 2-0 in Landmark Conference action this winter.
Freshman guard Maddie Capuano and senior forward Camille McPherson each scored 18 points to pace four Hounds in double figures with Capuano adding a career-best nine rebounds and six assists and McPherson pulling down a game-high 15 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season to go with six assists.
Freshman center Nadine Ewald had her second double-double of the year with 11 points and 11 boards while senior guard Morgan Calabrese added 10 points and five assists for Moravian. Junior forward Trista Cunningham contributed eight points and six rebounds in the win while freshman guard Karlie Brogan had five points, three boards and three steals. Junior center Ciara Stewart tossed in four points while junior guard Taylor Freeman added two points and junior forward Jen Cella grabbed two boards.
The River Hawks scored first before a three-pointer by Brogan got the Greyhounds on the scoreboard. Capuano connected from beyond the three-point line to give Moravian a 6-4 lead as the Blue and Grey led the rest of the first half. Stewart scored on a lay-up for a 16-6 lead with 1:55 left in the opening period, and Moravian had a 16-11 advantage after the first 10 minutes of play.
Susquehanna closed within three points early in the second quarter but a 9-0 run by the Hounds capped with a three-point play from McPherson had Moravian ahead 25-13 with 5:56 left in the first half. Capuano connected on a three-pointer to give the Hounds the first of three 13-point leads in the quarter, and Moravian held onto a 38-31 advantage heading into the locker room.
McPherson opened the third quarter with a lay-up, and a McPherson three-pointer had the Greyhounds leading 48-39 with 3:37 left in the third quarter. However, the River Hawks scored the final eight points of the period to cut Moravian's lead to just a point, 48-47, after 30 minutes of action.
Susquehanna scored first in the fourth quarter to take its first lead since the first minutes of action but lay-ups by McPherson and Ewald had Moravian back up by three points. Ewald scored again to bring the lead to 58-54 with 4:10 on the clock before the River Hawks scored nine straight points for a 63-58 advantage with just 1:06 to play. Capuano drilled a three-pointer just as the clock ticked under a minute, and Cunningham would take a pass from Capuano and lay the ball in the hoop in the final seconds to knot the score at 63-63 and send the contest to overtime.
Ewald opened the scoring in the extra session with a lay-up, and a pair of free throws by McPherson had the Hounds up 67-63 just 50 seconds into overtime. After a three-pointer by the River Hawks, Ewald made a lay-up, Capuano connected on five free throws and McPherson hit two more from the charity stripe as the Greyhounds built a 10-point lead, 76-66, with 19 seconds left. Susquehanna connected on a final three-pointer before Moravian ran out the clock for the victory.
The Greyhounds are scheduled to return to action on a Landmark Conference game at Drew University on Wednesday, January 11 beginning at 7:00 p.m. in Madison, N.J.
