BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's basketball team had a 14-point lead early in the fourth quarter and held off a late charge by visiting Susquehanna University with four free throws in the final 22 seconds to post a 72-66 Landmark Conference win in Johnston Hall Saturday afternoon.
The Greyhounds earned their third straight victory to improve to 14-5 overall and 6-2 in Landmark Conference play, and it was the Blue and Grey's second consecutive win by a 72-66 final. Moravian is tied for second in the Landmark Conference standings with six games remaining.
"This was a great win against a very good Susquehanna team," noted Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk. "We came out focused and played hard for 40 minutes. Our free throw shooting was outstanding with Nadine hitting two big ones at the end of the game. It was nice to see contributions from everyone who got in the game. We will need this kind of effort as we go on the road the next few games."
Moravian had two players in double figures with freshman guard Maddie Capuano netting a game and career high 21 points to go with eight rebounds and four assists. Senior forward Camille McPherson tossed in 19 points to go along with seven rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals. The duo combined to go 14-of-16 at the foul line while the Greyhounds were 27-of-32 (84.4 percent) at the charity stripe in the victory.
Junior forward Trista Cunningham contributed nine points and two blocked shots while senior guard Morgan Calabrese tossed in seven points with four assists. Freshman guard Karlie Brogan added seven rebounds and six points for the Blue and Grey while freshman center Nadine Ewald had a team-high nine rebounds to go with five points as she went 5-of-6 at the foul line. Sophomore forward Ariana Caiati had three points while junior center Ciara Stewart posted three rebounds, two points and a pair of blocked shots.
Calabrese opened the scoring with a lay-up nearly two minutes into action, and McPherson would give the Greyhounds the lead for good, 9-6, with a three-pointer at the 4:56 mark. Moravian led 15-12 after the first 10 minutes of action.
The Hounds opened the second quarter with a 7-0 run to stretch the advantage to double figures at 22-12 after a lay-up by Stewart at the 7:49 mark. The River Hawks answered with a 9-1 run to pull within two points, 23-21. Moravian would answer with Capuano hitting a three-pointer and a pair of free throws for a 34-23 lead with 40 seconds before the intermission, and the Greyhounds headed to the locker room with a 35-25 advantage.
Susquehanna hit two three-pointers to start the second half before a trey by Calabrese got Moravian on the board. The Hounds would push the lead to 13 points on four occasions in the third quarter including the end of the period at 52-39, after a jumper from Capuano in the lane.
Early in the fourth quarter, McPherson scored on a put back basket as Moravian opened its largest lead of the day at 14 points, 55-41, with 9:20 to play. The River Hawks slowly cut into the lead and trailed by just two points, 66-64, after a three-pointer with 2:07 to play. Capuano hit a jumper on the Greyhounds next possession but Susquehanna scored to cut the lead back to two points with 44 ticks left on the clock. Ewald headed to the foul line and calmly hit both shots with 22 seconds remaining, and McPherson sealed the victory when she hit two free throws with nine seconds left.
Moravian is scheduled to return to action on Wednesday, February 1 when the squad heads to No. 7 The University of Scranton for a Landmark Conference game beginning at 7:00 p.m.
