SCRANTON, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's basketball team nearly pulled of its third upset in six years at nationally-ranked The University of Scranton before falling to the No. 17 Royals, 98-94 in overtime, Wednesday evening in Landmark Conference action.
The Greyhounds, who are now 12-4 overall and 2-3 in Landmark Conference play, had four players in double figures led by sophomore guard Maddie Capuano, who tossed in a team and career-high 27 points to go with a pair of assists. Graduate student forward Camille McPherson had 18 points, all coming after halftime, as she moved into ninth in school history with 1,266 points to go with two rebounds and two assists while sophomore guard Karlie Brogan tied her career-high with 15 points and dished out a career-best five assists. Sophomore forward Nadine Ewald contributed 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
Senior forward Ciara Stewart and freshman guard Julia Sirotnak each scored eight points while Sirotnak grabbing a career-high six rebounds and Stewart adding four boards. Senior forward Trista Cunningham had seven rebounds and six points while freshman guard Jennifer McClave and junior forward Ariana Caiati both had two rebounds with McClave dishing out five assists.
The Blue and Grey connected on 35-of-72 field goal attempts (48.6 percent) and 10-of-21 three-pointers (47.6 percent) but the Royals shot even better at 59 percent from the floor and behind the three-point line. The Greyhounds were 14-of-17 at the charity stripe while Scranton was 16-of-20 at the foul line. The Hounds dominated the boards, 42-22, including an 18-2 advantage on the offensive glass.
The Royals opened the scoring in the first quarter before a three-point play by Cunningham and a three-pointer by Capuano had the Blue and Grey leading 6-3. The game was tied five times including at 12-12 after a lay-up by Stewart before Scranton scored seven straight points for a 19-12 advantage. Sirotnak beat the buzzer with a three-pointer as Moravian trailed 24-22 after 10 minutes of action.
Ewald scored the first points of the second quarter to tie the contest again at 24-24. After three more ties, the Greyhounds eventually took a 35-34 lead on a lay-up from Ewald, and Moravian was up 37-35 after a lay-up with by Capuano with 1:48 left in the half. Brogan knotted the score for the 11th time of the opening half at 40-40 with a three-pointer with 29 ticks left in the second quarter but the Royals hit a pair of free throws to head to the locker room with a 42-40 edge.
McPherson scored her first points of the game at the foul line 21 seconds into the third quarter to tie the contest at 42-42 but Scranton answered again and built a five-point lead. Capuano drilled a three-pointer with 4:27 left in the period as Moravian moved ahead 53-52; however, the Royals eventually moved ahead 64-59. Brogan hit a jumper and Sirotnak connected on another late shot to end the quarter with the Blue and Grey down just a point, 64-63.
Scranton opened the fourth quarter with a pair of baskets to push the lead back to five points but Moravian answered this time with McPherson hitting a jumper at 6:47 to give Moravian a 71-70 advantage. After three more lead changes and three ties, the Royals took an 83-79 lead with 1:16 remaining. Capuano made it a one-point game with a three-pointer with 25 seconds left, and she hit a pair of free throws with two seconds on the clock to knot the score for the 17th time in the contest at 85-85 and force overtime, the fifth between the schools in 40 games.
McPherson opened the scoring in the extra session as Moravian took an 87-85 lead before a three-point play pushed the Royals to an 88-87 lead. McPherson knotted the score with a free throw, and then she gave the Blue and Grey a 90-88 advantage with a lay-up at the 2:50 mark. Each time the Greyhounds moved ahead, Scranton would tie the game again on the next trip down the floor. Ewald made two free throws for a 94-92 Moravian lead with 1:19 to go but that would be the last points of the evening for the Hounds. The Royals made a jumper for the 22nd tie of the contest, and a blocked shot led to a go-ahead jumper for Scranton with nine seconds left. The Blue and Grey had a chance to tie with under seven seconds but turned the ball over and the Royals sank two free throws to seal the contest.
Moravian is slated to return to action on Saturday, January 20 in a Landmark Conference contest at No. 20 Juniata College with tip-off scheduled for 4:00 p.m. in Huntingdon.
