BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Moravian College women's basketball team defeated nationally-ranked No. 17 The Catholic University of American, 62-59, Saturday afternoon in a thrilling contest. Three free throws from freshman forward Alesha Marcks and junior guard Alyssa Hann in the final seconds of the game sealed the victory for Moravian.
The Greyhounds (14-1, 5-0 Landmark) handed the Cardinals (14-1, 3-1 Landmark) their first loss of the season behind sophomore forward Alexis Wright double-double off of 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Senior guard Jenny McGann tallied the first points for the Cardinals off a layup. Junior center Laura Jordan tied the game at two with two free throws for the Greyhounds. The Cardinals jumped out to an early 7-2 lead three minutes in. Senior guard Amanda Kreuder hit a deep two, but junior guard Emily Grabiak responded with a three-pointer for the 10-5 lead five minutes in.
Junior guard Katie O'Rourke hit a three off the backboard to make the score 12-10. Senior forward Katarina Owunna added three points off a layup and a free throw for the 15-10 lead. Marcks cut to the hole for the easy layup, and classmate guard Emily MacDonnell added a break-away layup to make the score 15-14 eight minutes into the contest.
After exchanging scores junior guard Danielle Brogan hit a three from the wing to knot the contest at 19 with nine minutes left in the half. McGann gave the lead back to Catholic with a layup. Wright came back with a lay-in of her own after driving to the hoop to tie the game at 21 with 7:19 left in the first half.
Wright drew the foul, and hit one her free throw to give the Greyhounds their first lead of the game at 22-21. Freshman guard Steph Peterson added two more free throws for the 24-21 lead with five minutes remaining in the half. O'Rourke then drove to the hoop for the layup for the 26-21 lead.
Junior forward Liz Briones ended Moravian's 8-0 run with a layup from underneath to make the score 27-23. Marcks came back with a layup at the other end for the 29-23 with a minute left in the half. That would be the halftime score with Moravian up 29-23.
The Greyhounds shot 33-percent from the field in the first half while the Cardinals shot 28-percent from the field. Moravian held the rebounding advantage at 25-23 while both teams committed eight turnovers. The Greyhounds made the most of the turnovers scoring 10 points off them while the Cardinals only scored two. Wright led Moravian with six points and five rebounds while Owunna led Catholic with seven points and three boards.
Owunna tallied the first basket of the second half for the Cardinals. O'Rourke came back with a lay-in. After trading scores, Wright grabbed the offensive board and went up strong for the layup. O'Rourke grabbed a steal and hit one-of-two free throws for the 38-30 lead three and a half minutes into the second half.
Senior forward Kelli Josephsen and classmate guard Jill Woerner hit back-to-back scores to cut the lead to 38-34. O'Rourke had a nice pass to a wide-open Marcks for the open layup to make the screo 40-34 five minutes into the second half. Hann hit Marcks on the next possession for the score and a 42-35 lead. Woerner went into for the layup while getting fouled. She converted the free throw for Catholic to make the score 42-39 with 13:34 remaining. Woerner hit another layup to make the score 42-41 on the next possession.
Jordan ended the Cardinals run with a layup for the 44-41 advantage. Marcks followed up with a deep two for the 46-41 lead with 12 minutes to play in the contest. Free throws from Catholic brought them within three points of the lead at 47-44 with 10:35 left in the game. A hook from Woerner made the score 47-46, but Wright answered back with a layup of her own.
After trading scores, a steal and layup from Woerner put the Cardinals back on top 52-51. Jordan came back with a layup, and Brogan followed with a break-away lay-in for the 55-52 lead with 4:30 remaining in the game.
Josephsen knotted the contest up at 55 with a three-pointer from the corner. A deep two by Woerner put Catholic back up at 57-55 with just under two minutes to play. Wright responded with a layup to tie the game at 57.
Josephsen put the Cardinals back up with a fade-away jumper. After getting fouled, O'Rourke made both free throws to tie the game at 59 with one minute to play. With 19 seconds remaining, Marcks hit one free throw for Moravian to go up 60-59. Marcks then stole the ball away from Catholic, and Hann got fouled while going in for the layup. Hann hit both free throws for the 62-59 lead with four seconds remaining. Grabiak threw up a last second three-pointer, but it hit the front of the iron as Moravian defeated #17 Catholic 62-59.
Moravian is now 2-0 versus ranked opponents this winter.
Marcks was a key-contributor in the victory, posting a career-high 12 points to go with four rebounds, two assists and two steals while O'Rourke added ten points, seven boards, four assists and three steals. Jordan put up nine points, five rebounds and two blocks while Brogan had seven points and five rebounds.
Woerner led the Cardinals with 22 points and five rebounds while Owunna had ten points, six rebounds, three blocks and three steals. McGann put up eight points, seven rebounds and six assists while Grabiak had seven points, five boards and four assists in the game.
The Greyhounds shot 36-percent from the field while the Cardinals shot 32-percent from the field in the game. Both teams had 46 rebounds while Catholic had four less turnovers.
The Greyhounds return to the court on Monday, January 14th as they host The College of New Jersey. The contest is set for 6 p.m.
