BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The nationally-ranked No. 25 Moravian College women's basketball team defeated Valley Forge Christian College, 77-30, Wednesday afternoon in the first day of the 12th Annual Moravian Winter Classic.
Senior guard Amanda Reich would get the first bucket of the game for the Patriots (7-5). Junior guard Katie O'Rourke answered with a layup after a steal from classmate center Laura Jordan. Jordan then gave the Greyhounds (11-0) their first lead of the game, and sophomore forward Alexis Wright added another layup for an 8-4 lead two and a half minutes in.
Reich brought Valley Forge within one point of the lead at 8-7 after hitting a three-pointer five minutes in. Freshman forward Alesha Marcks and junior guard Alyssa Hann put Moravian up 12-7 with back-to-back baskets, but Reich answered with a three from straight away to make the score 12-10 with 12:24 to play in the half. Two minutes later, Marcks took a nice pass from O'Rourke and made the layup for a 14-10 lead.
A three from the corner by freshman guard Karine Polgar put the Hounds up 17-12 with ten minutes to play. Back-to-back layups from senior guard Amanda Kreuder and Jordan made the score 21-12 with 8:43 remaining in the half.
Junior guard Danielle Brogan and freshman guard Steph Peterson continued Moravian's 15-2 run with buckets of their own. Senior forward Amanda Compton ended the Greyhounds run with a layup of her own to make the score 27-14 with four minutes to play in the half. Moravian then went on a 7-0 run with points from Peterson, Jordan and Wright to go up 34-14 with 2:28 left in the first half. Sophomore Amanda McGinness ended Moravian's run, but Marcks came back with a jumper from the baseline for a 36-16 lead with a minute to go in the half. The Greyhounds would take a 20-point lead into the locker room at 38-18.
Moravian shot 49-percent from the field while Valley Forge shot 22-percent from the field in the first half. The Patriots held the rebounding advantage at 23-21 while the Greyhounds committed only eight turnovers, and forcing 17. Jordan led the Hounds at the half with eight points, four rebounds, two blocks and two steals while Reich had ten points and five rebounds for Valley Forge.
Kreuder would tally the first bucket of the second half with a breakaway layup. Brogan, Wright, Jordan and O'Rourke added baskets for the 14-0 run to start the second half that put Moravian up 52-18 five minutes in. McGinness ended the Greyhounds run with a mid-range jumper to make the score 52-20 with 13:13 to play in the contest.
Reich then hit a three from the corner, but Marcks ended the Patriots run with a jumper to make the score 54-23 with 12 minutes remaining in the contest. That started a 13-0 run for the Greyhounds with points from Peterson, Polgar and freshmen guards Emily MacDonnell and Alison Davis. Free throws from Reich ended Moravian's run to make the score 65-25 with seven minutes to play in the game. That would be it as the Greyhounds would go onto win by a score of 77-30.
Jordan led the way with 12 points, five rebounds, four steals and two blocks while Kreuder had eight points and three assists. O'Rourke finished with six assists and four points while Wright had six points, six boards and four steals. Peterson finished with a career-high seven points while Brogan added six points and three steals. Marcks tallied eight points while freshman guard Audrey Schiavone put up six points. Polgar had six points while Davis had four points, three steals and two assists.
Reich led the Patriots with 16 points and five boards while Compton had a double-double off of ten points and ten rebounds. Senior guard Vanity Jones brought down 12 boards while McGinness had four points.
The Greyhounds shot 48-percent from the field while the Patriots shot 22-percent from the field for the game. Moravian held the rebounding edge at 46-38 while committing 16 less turnovers for the contest.
The Greyhounds will take on FDU-Florham tomorrow, January 3rd at 5:30 p.m. in the championship game of the Moravian Winter Classic. Valley Forge Christian College will take on Neumann University at 1 p.m. tomorrow in the consolation game.
