SCRANTON, Pa. --- The third seed Moravian College women's basketball team fell to second seed and host No. 19 ranked The University of Scranton, 71-60, in a Landmark Conference Semifinal Wednesday evening.
The Greyhounds, who were playing in the postseason for the 16th straight year under Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk, drop to 19-7 on the season. Moravian will wait until Monday, February 27 to find out it the squad receives a bid to the 2017 ECAC Division III Championship Tournament.
Moravian had four players in double figures with freshman guard Maddie Capuano netting a team-high 15 points to go with three rebounds and two assists. Freshman guard Karlie Brogan tossed in 12 points and added four rebounds and three assists while senior forward Camille McPherson had 11 points and a team-high nine boards. McPherson has 589 points this winter, the third most in a season in school history.
Freshman center Nadine Ewald finished with 10 points and five rebounds as the Greyhounds had a 35-33 edge on the glass. Senior guard Morgan Calabrese tossed in eight points for the Blue and Grey while sophomore forward Ariana Caiati had four points and a pair of boards.
The Royals scored the opening basket before Ewald scored to knot the score at 2-2. Scranton would run off eight straight points for a 10-2 edge, and the Royals would lead 14-4 before a basket by McPherson. Scranton held an 18-8 advantage after the first 10 minutes of action.
The Greyhounds would get with eight points, 20-12, a minute into the second quarter on a three-pointer from Brogan but the Royals answered with a 5-0 run to take a 25-12 advantage. McPherson connected on a traditional three-point play as Moravian was down eight points again, 25-17, with 5:47 left in the second quarter. Brogan connected on another three-pointer and Caiati followed with a jumper as the Blue and Grey pulled within five points at 27-22, with 3:21 left in the period. Moravian would get within two points, 30-28, in a three-pointer by Capuano with 1:27 before the intermission; however, the Royals hit a pair of treys to head to the locker room with a 36-28 lead.
Scranton scored to open the third quarter and push the lead back to double digits at 38-28 but the Greyhounds out-scored the Royals, 19-8, during the rest of the period. Calabrese pulled the Hounds within two points, 40-38, on a jumper in the lane, and McPherson would give Moravian its first lead of the game, 43-42, with just over two minutes left in the quarter on a lay-up. The teams would trade baskets over the rest of the quarter with a late lay-up by McPherson giving the Greyhounds a 47-46 lead after 30 minutes of action.
The Royals scored just about two minutes into the fourth quarter to retake the lead for good, pushing the advantage into double figures in the final minute.
The ECAC changed its format this year with one 16-team tournament with the opening round based on the four regions with Moravian in the Metro. The tournament begins on Wednesday, March 1 with eight first round sites before the remaining eight teams head to the top seed for the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship from March 3-5.
