LANCASTER, Pa. --- Sophomore forward Alexis Wright had her second double-double of the season with a career high 23 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Moravian College women's basketball team to their third consecutive win to start the 2012-13 season with a 71-60 victory over Lycoming College on the second day of the Terry Greene Memorial Tournament hosted by Franklin & Marshall College.
Moravian would jump out to a 2-0 lead on a layup by Wright at the 18:29 mark while Lycoming tied the game 15 seconds later on a jumper from Janelle Ziminski. Junior forward Laura Jordan would give Moravian a 7-2 lead with a lay-up at 17:40, and Wright extended the advantage to 11-4 at 16:13 with a layup.
The Greyhounds' lead reached eight points, 15-7 on two free throws by junior guard Katie O'Rourke at 15:15, and O'Rourke, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, connected on a three-pointer with 12:04 left in the first half for an 18-14 advantage. Lycoming would pull in front, 20-18, on a three-pointer by Rachel Scheller with 9:27 before the intermission, and a pair of free throws from Taylor Ford pushed the Warriors lead to 24-19.
Jordan would get Moravian within a point at 29-28 with 3:28 to play in the opening half, and freshman guard Alesha Marcks hit a jumper at 1:47 to cut Lycoming's lead to 31-30. Ziminski made a free throw with 1:06 left in the half to send the Warriors to the locker room with a 32-30 lead.
Moravian connected on ten-of-27 field goal attempts (37.0 percent) in the first half, and the Greyhounds were two-for-five behind the three-point line and eight-for-12 at the foul line in the opening 20 minutes. Moravian has 11 turnovers in the first half while forcing Lycoming into 14 turnovers. The Warriors connected on 12-of-33 field goal attempts (36.4 percent), three-of-eight three-pointers and five-of-11 free throws in the first half, and Lycoming had a 25-20 edge in rebounds after the first 20 minutes of action.
Junior guard Danielle Brogan opened the scoring in the second half with a three-pointer to put the Greyhounds ahead at 33-32 while Scheller gave Lycoming the lead back, 34-33, with 18:03 on the clock. Wright connected on a layup at 17:22 to give Moravian the lead for good, 35-34, and O'Rourke pushed the Greyhounds' advantage to 42-34 with a jumper at 15:46.
Marks would push the Moravian lead to ten points, 49-39, with a layup at the 11:51 mark, and a layup from Wright at 6:26 gave the Greyhounds a 14-point lead, 57-43. Moravian would lead again by 14 points, 61-47, on a jumper from Wright with 4:57 to play.
The Greyhounds shot the ball better in the second half, making 15-of-31 field goal attempts (48.4 percent), and the squad was nine-for-12 at the foul line and two-for-seven on three-pointers in the final 20 minutes. Moravian had a 24-15 advantage in rebounds in the second half to finish the game with a 44-40 edge on the boards. Lycoming was nine-for-30 from the field (30 percent), two-for-seven behind the three-point line and eight-for-nine at the foul line in the final 20 minutes, and each squad had 11 turnovers in the second half.
Moravian had three other players in double figures to join Wright, who also had three blocked shots and two steals in the victory. Brogan tossed in 16 points to go with five rebounds while O'Rourke had 16 points, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals for the Greyhounds. Jordan finished with ten points, six rebounds and three steals while Marks added six points and three boards.
Shannon Wheeler led Lycoming with 11 points and two rebounds while Kylee Sutton had nine points. Scheller contributed eight points and four steals for the Warriors while Julia Antonelli and Shanley Harlacker each had six points with Antonelli pulling down 12 rebounds to go with a pair of blocked shots.
The Greyhounds will open their 2012-13 home season on Tuesday, November 20th when Moravian hosts DeSales University in a non-conference game in Johnston Hall starting at 6:00 p.m.
