BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Senior forward Camille McPherson and freshman guard Maddie Capuano each tossed in 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds to help the Moravian College women's basketball team to a 95-50 win over Centenary (N.J.) University in the opening round of the 2017 ECAC Division III Championship Tournament in Johnston Hall Wednesday evening.
The Greyhounds, who improve to 20-7 on the year and earn the program's 19th 20-win season, advance to the Quarterfinals on Friday, March 3 versus Waynesburg University, a 65-58 winner over Grove City College in one of the other six first round games. Moravian and Waynesburg will tip-off at 8:00 p.m. at Carnegie Mellon University, the site of the final three rounds of games through Sunday, March 5.
"It is great to reach the 20-win mark and to continue the season in the quarterfinals on Friday," commented Spirk. "We came out on fire shooting the ball, and Maddie was lights out on three-pointers all game. Camille has been such a tremendous competitor all season and I'm happy that she was able to get to 1,000 points in her career and to do it at home."
McPherson entered the game needing 25 points for 1,000 in her career at Moravian, and she would hit the milestone with her fifth three-pointer of the game with 5:24 remaining in the third quarter to become the 26th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point milestone and the first Greyhound to hit the mark in just two seasons and a total of 54 games. McPherson has 1,406 points as a college basketball player after starting her career at The University of the Sciences, and her 615 points this winter are the second most in a season at Moravian as she becomes the second player to eclipse the 600-point milestone in one year. McPherson also three assists and a blocked shot to go with her eight boards.
Capuano was 8-for-10 beyond the three-point line to break Kim Hughes' mark of seven three-pointers set on December 7, 2002, and Moravian hit a total of 17 three-pointers in the contest to break the single game mark for the team, surpassing the 13 set against The Catholic University of America on February 22, 2014. Capuano, whose 26 points are a career high, dished out a career high eight assists versus the Cyclones to go with her eight rebounds and two steals. Capuano and McPherson combined to shoot 19-of-32 from the floor and 13-of-17 on three-pointers.
Freshman center Nadine Ewald hit double figures with 10 points, and she added five rebounds to help Moravian hold a 56-34 edge on the boards. Ewald also had three blocked shots, two assists and two steals while freshman guard Brooke Santy netted a career high eight points and she added two rebounds.
Freshman guard Karlie Brogan tossed in six points on a pair of three-pointers to go with two boards and a pair of assists while sophomore forward Emily Walls had five points with one three-pointer and a pair of steals. Junior center Ciara Stewart had four points while junior guard Kayla Csencsits had three points on a trey.
Junior forward Trista Cunningham pulled down six rebounds to go with two points while sophomore forward Ariana Caiati added four boards and two points for the Blue and Grey. Senior guard Morgan Calabrese contributed five rebounds; four assists, four steals and two points while junior guard Taylor Freeman had one point. Sophomore guard Caitlin Flanagan pulled down a career best four rebounds while junior forward Jen Cella had two rebounds and a pair of assists. All 15 Greyhounds in uniform played at least five minutes in the contest with no one playing more than 26 minutes.
McPherson scored on the opening shot of the contest just 25 seconds into play as the Blue and Grey took a lead that they would never relinquish. McPherson's first three-pointer of the game pushed the Moravian lead to 13-2 at the 6:39 mark, and the Hounds led 24-10 after 10 minutes of action.
Just over four minutes into the second quarter, McPherson hit another three-pointer as Moravian pushed the lead to 20 points, and McPherson had the advantage at 30 points, 50-20, on another trey with 1:25 left in the first half. The Greyhounds headed to the locker room with a 51-22 lead after shooting 10-for-13 beyond the three-point line in the opening half.
Moravian maintained its lead throughout the second half with Capuano breaking the three-point record with 5:10 to play in the fourth quarter.
The Greyhounds, who are in the ECAC Tournament for the eighth time, head to Pittsburgh in search of the program's third ECAC title.
