MADISON, N.J. --- The Moravian College women's basketball team posted a 71-60 victory at Drew University Wednesday evening in Landmark Conference action, and the win coupled with an overtime victory by Elizabethtown College over The Catholic University of America put the Greyhounds in the Landmark Conference Tournament.
The Hounds, who are now 17-7 overall and 7-6 in Landmark Conference play after winning their fourth straight game, will be the third seed in the tournament if they can win at Catholic on Saturday and Elizabethtown falls to Susquehanna. If Moravian ends up in a three-way tie at 7-7 with Catholic and Susquehanna, the Greyhounds own the tiebreaker by virtue of their win last Saturday versus Juniata College and will be the fourth seed.
Moravian had a balanced scoring attack Wednesday night versus Drew with four starters in double figures and the starting five accounting for 67 of the team's 71 points. Graduate student forward Camille McPherson led the Greyhounds with 21 points and she became the eighth player in school history to reach 1,400 points, now with 1,407. McPherson added seven rebounds and five assists in the win. Sophomore guard Karlie Brogan had her third career double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds to go with three steals while sophomore guard Maddie Capuano tossed in 15 points with five boards, two assists and two steals.
Sophomore forward Nadine Ewald collected her sixth double-double of the season and 11th of her career with 14 rebounds and 12 points to go with three assists and a pair of steals while senior forward Trista Cunningham had four points and four boards. Senior forward Ciara Stewart and freshman guard Jennifer McClave each scored two points and McClave added a pair of assists.
After trailing by a point at halftime, Moravian heated up in the second half and finished the game by connecting on 28-of-65 field goal attempts, 7-of-14 three-pointers and 8-of-14 free throws. The Greyhounds also had a 45-32 advantage on the glass including 14-7 on offensive rebounds.
Ewald scored on a put back basket on the opening possession, and McPherson hit a jumper for a 4-0 lead. After two free throws by Drew, Moravian scored seven straight points to take an 11-2 lead after a Stewart lay-up with 4:26 left in the first period. However, the Greyhounds would not score for the next six and a half minutes as the Rangers finished the first quarter on a 12-0 run for a 14-11 lead after 10 minutes of action.
Drew also scored the first five points of the second quarter to extend the lead to 19-11 before McPherson hit a lay-up at 7:58. McPherson later tied the game at 21-21 with a lay-up and Brogan put Moravian back in front, 24-21, with a three-pointer 2:56 before the intermission. The Rangers would hit a pair of late free throws to head to the locker room with a 28-27 advantage.
The Hounds put together a strong third quarter, outscoring Drew 25-15 to take control of the game. Ewald opened the half with a lay-up before the Rangers answered back. Brogan would give Moravian the lead for good, 33-32, with a free throw, and a 9-0 run keyed by a three-pointer by Brogan had the Blue and Grey leading 45-34, with four minutes left in the third period. Capuano finished the quarter with a three-pointer to give Moravian a 52-43 edge after 30 minutes of play.
The Hounds saw their advantage reach 18 points, 61-43, on a lay-up by McPherson with 6:11 to go before Drew closed within nine points, 65-56, in the final two minutes. Capuano made four free throws in the final 23 seconds to push the lead back to double digits.
The Greyhounds are slated to complete the 2017-18 regular season on Saturday, February 17 in a Landmark Conference game at Catholic in Washington, D.C. with tip-off set for 4:00 p.m.