WASHINGTON, D.C. --- The Moravian College women's basketball team saw a six-point lead in the third quarter slip away as the Greyhounds fell to host The Catholic University of America, 63-54, in Landmark Conference action Saturday to end the regular season.
The Hounds, who are 17-8 overall and 7-7 in Landmark Conference play, had already clinched a berth in the 2018 Landmark Conference Tournament and will now be the fourth seed and travel to top seed The University of Scranton on Wednesday, February 21.
Moravian had three players in double figures Saturday with sophomore guard Maddie Capuano tossing in a team high 15 points to go with three assists and two rebounds. Graduate student forward Camille McPherson added 13 points, nine rebounds and a pair of assists while sophomore forward Nadine Ewald finished with 12 points and 12 boards, her seventh double-double of the season and 12th of her career.
Freshman guard Julia Sirotnak added six points and two rebounds while sophomore guard Karlie Brogan had four points, seven boards and a pair of assists and senior forward Trista Cunningham contributed four points, two rebounds and two assists. Freshman guard Jennifer McClave had three assists while senior forward Ciara Stewart had two rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
The Greyhounds connected on 21-of-56 field goal attempts and 8-of-21 three-pointers. The big difference in the contest was the Hounds going 4-for-4 at the foul line while Catholic was 24-of-27 at the charity stripe. The Blue and Grey finished with a 40-33 advantage on the boards.
The Cardinals scored the opening basket before Ewald tied the game. Her basket started a 9-0 run as Brogan gave the Hounds a 9-2 lead at 6:22 of the first quarter. Capuano made it 12-4 with a three-pointer at 5:54 but Moravian would not score for the rest of the period as Catholic cut it to 12-9 after 10 minutes of action.
Ewald opened the second quarter with a basket, and the Hounds had a five-point lead, 19-14, with 4:32 left in the first half. The Cardinals scored eight straight points to take a 22-19 lead before McPherson hit a jumper to cut the deficit to a point, 22-21, at halftime.
Ewald gave Moravian the lead back to start the third quarter. Moravian trailed, 28-27, when Ewald made two baskets and Capuano followed with a three-pointer to give the Greyhounds a 34-28 lead with 5:16 left in the third period. Catholic came back and knotted the score at 34-34 before a three-pointer from Capuano had Moravian up 37-34. The Cardinals netted the last five points to lead 39-37 after 30 minutes of action.
McPherson opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer as Moravian moved back in front, 40-39, but that would be the only time in the final period that the Greyhounds had the lead. McPherson hit two free throws to pull the Hounds within 53-51 with 3:03 remaining, and she had a three-pointer to make it a three-point deficit, 57-54, with a minute to play before Catholic made six free throws to seal the victory.
Moravian heads to No. 13 Scranton for the Landmark Conference Semifinals on Wednesday, February 21 at 7:00 p.m. The Greyhounds and Royals have gone to overtime in both meetings so far this season with Scranton winning both.
