DANBURY, Conn. --- The Moravian College women's basketball team has received a berth in the 2017 Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III Championship Tournament presented by Visit Myrtle Beach announced Monday, and the Greyhounds will host Centenary (N.J.) University in a Region 2 first round game on Wednesday, March 1 at 7:00 p.m. in Johnston Hall.
The Greyhounds, who are making their 15th appearance in the ECAC Tournament, are 19-7 overall this season and finished the Landmark Conference regular season at 11-3 and tied for second in the conference standings. The Cyclones come to Bethlehem with a 20-6 record.
The ECAC switched from four regional tournaments to one overall championship this year with 15 teams. Top seed Carnegie Mellon University received a first round bye and will host the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship games from Friday, March 3 through Sunday, March 5.
Wednesday's other first round game in Region 2 features Waynesburg University at Grove City College. The winner of that game and the winner of the Moravian-Centenary game will meet in the last quarterfinal game on Friday with tip-off set for 8:00 p.m. at Carnegie Mellon.
Moravian Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk has the Greyhounds in the postseason for the 16th straight season, and for the 27th time in her 30 seasons leading the Moravian program. The Greyhounds made their ninth Landmark Conference Tournament appearance after missing out in 2014-15 on a tiebreaker for the first time in the history of the conference. Spirk has a career record of 561-265 and is looking to lead the Greyhounds to their third ECAC title that would go with ECAC Championships in 1987 and 2007. Spirk has led Moravian to the NCAA Division III Tournament nine times in her tenure including the NCAA Division III National Championship game in 1992 and a first round win at the University of New England last March.
On the court this season, senior forward Camille McPherson leads Moravian in scoring at 22.7 points per game, and her 589 points this winter are the third most in a single season in school history. McPherson also leads the Hounds on the boards at 8.8 rebounds per game to go with a team high 53 three-pointers and eight double-doubles. She has added 74 assists, 18 steals and 14 blocked shots, and McPherson is shooting 82.2 percent at the foul line (134-of-163), 47.3 percent from the floor (201-of-425) and 38.4 percent beyond the arc (53-of-138). This winter, McPherson has already been named the Lehigh Valley Small College Women's Basketball Pete Nevins Player of the Year while earning a spot on the LVSCB Team of the Year, and she is a four-time Landmark Conference Women's Basketball Athlete of the Week honoree in 2016-17.
Freshman guard Maddie Capuano, who has started all 26 games and is one of three freshmen to start at least 22 games for Moravian this winter, is scoring 12.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest. Capuano, who earned ECAC Division III Metro Rookie of the Week honors once, has also contributed 63 assists, 51 steals and 43 three-pointers, and she is shooting 82.5 percent (80-of-97) at the foul line.
Freshman center Nadine Ewald, who has started 22 of 23 games she has played in, and senior guard Morgan Calabrese are both netting 9.7 points per contest with Ewald adding 8.1 rebounds per game, 18 blocked shots, 16 steals, 14 assists and five double-doubles. Calabrese has dished out a team-high 96 assists to go with 102 rebounds, 27 steals and 18 three-pointers.
Freshman guard Karlie Brogan, who has started 25 games, is contributing 7.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per outing to go along with 48 steals, 29 assists, 21 three-pointers and 15 blocked shots with one double-double. Junior forward Trista Cunningham has averages of 4.8 points and 4.3 rebounds, and she has 18 blocked shots, 13 steals and 11 assists while junior center Ciara Stewart has a team-high 21 blocked shots to go with 105 points, 68 rebounds, seven steals and three assists in her first season with the program.
Sophomore forward Ariana Caiati has contributed 52 rebounds, 49 points, six assists and four blocked shots in her first year at Moravian while junior guard Taylor Freeman has added 19 points, 16 rebounds, 15 assists and three steals. Junior forward Jen Cella has 22 rebounds, nine blocked shots, five points and five assists while sophomore guard Emily Walls has eight points and four rebounds.
Junior guard Kayla Csencsits, sophomore guard/forward Caitlin Flanagan sophomore guard Tyis Mullen and freshman guard Brooke Santy all have four points this winter with Santy adding 11 assists and nine rebounds and Csencsits grabbing seven boards. Freshman forward Christine Neu has contributed three rebounds and two points.
Coach Spirk has the Greyhounds aiming for their 19th 20-win season in the 40th season since Title IX in Wednesday's first round game.
2017 ECAC Division III Women's Basketball Championship Tournament
First Round - Wednesday, March 1
Game 1: Neumann University (18-8) at Brooklyn College (21-6) - 7:00 pm
Game 2: Centenary University (20-6) at Moravian College (19-7 - 7:00 pm
Game 3: Waynesburg University (16-11) at Grove City College (14-12) - 7:00 pm
Game 4: SUNY Cobleskill (14-11) at Springfield University (18-8) - 7:00 pm
Game 5: Marywood University (18-8) at New York University (13-12) - 7:00 pm
Game 6: Cabrini University (16-12) at Stevenson University (17-9) - 7:00 pm
Game 7: Rutgers University-Camden (14-11) at Misericordia University (18-8) - 7:00 pm
Quarterfinals - Friday, March 3 - hosted at Carnegie Mellon University
Game 8: Winner Game 1 vs. Carnegie Mellon (18-7) - 11:00 am
Game 9: Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7 - 2:00 pm
Game 10: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 - 5:00 pm
Game 11: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3 - 8:00 pm
Semifinals - Saturday, March 4 - hosted at Carnegie Mellon University
Game 12: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9 - 3:00 pm
Game 13: Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 11 - 6:00 pm
Championship - Sunday, March 5 - hosted at Carnegie Mellon University
Game 15: Winner Game 12 vs. Winner Game 13 - 12:00 pm
