BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The nationally-ranked No. 24 Moravian College women's basketball team defeated Landmark Conference foe The University of Scranton, 70-62, Wednesday evening. Freshman guard Emily scored a career-high 11 points for the Greyhounds.
The Royals (12-6, 4-3 Landmark) jumped on the board first with a jumper by senior forward Erin Boggan. Junior center Laura Jordan tallied the first bucket for Moravian (17-2, 8-0 Landmark). Four minutes into the contest junior guard Danielle Brogan hit a three-pointer to knot the contest at seven. Freshman forward Alesha Marcks gave the Greyhounds their first lead of the game at 9-7 with a jumper.
A lay-in by sophomore forward Meredith Mesaris tied it up at nine, but Brogan answered with a deep three for the 12-9 lead five minutes in. After a layup by Boggan, Moravian came back with a 6-0 run with points by Marcks and junior guard Katie O'Rourke to put the Hounds up18-11 eight minutes into the contest.
After trading scores, the Royals went on a 11-0 run with points by Boggan, senior forward Tayler Pallotta, and sophomore guard Lia DiSciascio to put them up 22-20 with 7:47 to play in the half. A jumper by Marcks and a three-pointer by O'Rourke put Moravian up 25-24 with six minutes to play in the half.
Both teams exchanged buckets down the stretch until a three from the corner by MacDonnell tied the game at 29. Back-to-back layups from sophomore forward Alexis Wright put the Greyhounds up 33-29. Scranton rallied back with two three-pointers from Boggan and DiSciascio to tie the contest at 35 heading into halftime.
Moravian shot 50-percent from the field while Scranton shot 45-percent from the field at the half. The Royals held the rebounding edge at 17-15. Leading the way for the Greyhounds at intermission was Marcks with eight points and two rebounds while Boggan led Scranton with 16 points.
Scranton jumped out to a six-point lead to start the second half with buckets by Boggan and Mesaris. Jordan and Wright brought the Greyhounds back to even at 41, four minutes in. After free throws by Marcks, MacDonnell hit a big three to put Moravian up 46-41 seven minutes into the contest. A Pallotta mid-range jumper ended that run to put the score at 46-43.
With 8:24 to play, Kreuder hit a layup, Wright followed with a steal that led to another score by Kreuder. A block by Wright led to two more points from Kreuder to put Moravian up 57-47 with seven minutes to play. Junior guard Alison Sweeney cut the Hounds to lead to six for Scranton, but MacDonnell responded with back-to-back three-pointers to put Moravian up 62-51 with 5:42 to play in the contest.
Scranton then came within six points after free throws by Mesaris, but Kreuder hit two free throws of her own to put the lead at 65-57 for the Greyhounds. Wright followed with an offensive rebound and the put-back to grab a 6-57 lead with two minutes to play.
Sophomore guard Lindsay Fluehr tallied two free throws, and Boggan hit a jumper from the top of the key to bring the Royals with six points at 67-61. Both teams added a free throw, and a huge blocked shot by Jordan led to two more free throws the other way from Wright to give Moravian an 80-72 victory.
Wright led the way with her 12th double-double of the year off of 16 points and ten rebounds to go with her four assists, four steals and one block. Jordan added nine points, four blocks and two steals while Marcks finished with 12 points and five rebounds. Kreuder added ten points, five boards and three assists while O'Rourke brought down nine rebounds to go with her five points and three assists. Brogan finished with six points and two boards while freshman guard Karine Polgar had four rebounds and a steal.
Boggan led the Royals with a game-high 24 points to go with her seven rebounds and two blocks. Mesaris added 12 points while senior guard Katherine Torto had ten rebounds and six points. Fluehr tallied eight assists, five steals and four points while DisCiascio and Pallotta each finished with six points.
Moravian shot 40-percent from the field while Scranton shot 37-percent from the field for the game. The Greyhounds held the edge in rebounds at 41-39 while committing two less turnovers.
No. 24 Moravian returns to the court on Saturday, January 26th as they host Landmark opponent Goucher College. The contest is set for 2 p.m.
