BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Junior guard Maddie Capuano tossed in a career-high 33 points to lead the Moravian College women's basketball team to a 71-55 non-conference victory over visiting Penn State Lehigh Valley in the Greyhounds 2018-19 home opener Wednesday evening in Johnston Hall.
"They're a tough team to play against because they have nothing to lose," stated Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk. "They play hard and fast. Lorie (who played for Coach Spirk) does a nice job with them and they came in here to try and make a statement.
"I was really pleased with Maddie, she was unbelievable with her career game," continued Spirk. "If we can get that kind of scoring from her, and I thought she played pretty good defense tonight too. We got lots of help with people coming off of the bench especially Emily, who did a great job. Nadine struggled a little bit offensively but again I thought she had a great game defensively and rebounding. If we can get contributions from a couple of different people each game, we're going to be ok."
Capuano had four assists and two rebounds, and she surpassed her previous career high of 27 points in three quarters of action Wednesday evening. Junior guard Karlie Brogan tossed in 14 points with three steals, two assists and a pair of rebounds while senior guard Emily Walls scored a career-high nine points to go with three rebounds and three steals.
Junior forward Nadine Ewald tied her career-high with 16 rebounds to go with six points while senior forward Ariana Caiati had career bests of 10 rebounds and three blocked shots in the victory. Senior guard Tyis Mullen had four points while sophomore guard Jennifer McClave added three points, three assists, five rebounds, two steals and a pair of blocked shots and junior guard Brooke Santy had two rebounds and two assists.
The Hounds, now 2-0 on the season, connected on 24-of-67 field goal attempts and 9-of-19 three-pointers with Capuano going 6-for-8 beyond the arc. Moravian also connected on 14-of-22 free throw attempts and outrebounded the Lions 49-44. The Blue and Grey also forced 26 turnovers in the victory.
Capuano opened the game with a three-pointer, and hit another one for a 6-2 lead. After a three-pointer by Brogan and two free throws from Capuano, Moravian led 11-3 just three minutes into the contest. Walls hit a three-pointer at the 2:43 mark to give the Greyhounds a 25-13 advantage, and the Lions answered nine seconds later before both squads went the final 2:30 of the first quarter without scoring as the Hounds led 25-16 after 10 minutes of action.
Early in the second quarter, Ewald hit a jumper to put Moravian up by 10 points and a three-point play from Brogan had the Blue and Grey up 32-21 with 4:09 before the intermission. However, Moravian would not score again in the half and head to the locker room with a 32-26 advantage.
Capuano started the second half with another three-pointer before the Nittany Lions closed within three points twice. Ahead just 42-37, McClave hit a free throw to start a 9-0 run to end the quarter with Moravian leading 51-37 after three free throws by Capuano.
The Hounds would keep the advantage in double digits for the rest of the game and had the lead reach 22 points, 66-44, on Capuano's final three-pointer of the night with 3:43 remaining.
The Greyhounds are scheduled to return to action on Friday, November 16 when the play the University of Lynchburg (Va.) in the opening day of the Kean (N.J.) University Tournament with tip-off at 5:00 p.m.
