BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Efficient offense and shutdown defense helped the Moravian College women's basketball team defeat Ursinus College 72-45 in the final non-conference game of the season on Tuesday night in Johnston Hall.
Senior point guard Katie O'Rourke led all scorers with 15 points and added three assists and four steals, while senior forward Ericka Blair tossed in 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting with six rebounds and three blocked shots.
"We really picked up the intensity," Blair said of her team, which improved to 11-2 with its third straight victory. "It wasn't just one person, it was a collective effort. We had a nice run at one point with a lot of assists, but we needed to rebound a little better tonight."
The Bears (5-5) out-rebounded the Hounds 51-38, but only shot 25 percent from the floor in the second half as the intensity Blair spoke of picked up.
Coming into tonight's game, the Bears were ranked second in the nation in fewest turnovers committed at 11.8 per contest. Ursinus committed two turnovers in the opening three minutes, contributing to an early 9-2 Moravian lead.
Blair and O'Rourke accounted for the Greyhounds' first 13 points on Tuesday before sophomore swing Alesha Marcks (nine points, five rebounds) drained a long two-pointer for the 15-8 lead.
Sophomore guard Emily MacDonnell gave Moravian its first double-digit lead with a trey, prompting an Ursinus timeout. The sophomore converted another from distance after the timeout for a 23-12 Greyhound advantage.
The Greyhounds would go on a 10-0 run later in the half behind two more layups from Blair.
By the halftime break, Ursinus nearly matched its second-ranked turnover average with 10, while shooting 35.1 percent from the floor. The Greyhounds countered with first-half marks of .516 shooting and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
Senior forward Laura Jordan helped Moravian maintain a lead early in the second half by taking two charges, keeping the ball in the hands of the Greyhounds, namely senior guard Danielle Brogan, who scored her first four points of the game on the ensuing possessions. Jordan would take a third charge five minutes later.
The Greyhounds are also nationally recognized in a specific category and reached their average with plenty of time left in the game. Blair's block with 13 minutes left was Moravian's eighth to match its NCAA Division III-leading average. The Hounds finished with 13 more blocks on Tuesday.
"I try to do whatever the team needs," Blair said. "I've never needed to be a scorer before, but I'm really focusing on that part of my game now that [junior forward] Alexis Wright is out and we all need to pick up those points. Everything I've been doing well I need to take up a notch because it's what the team needs."
Brogan finished off a drive in the paint to give the Greyhounds a 20-point lead at 58-38 with 11:30 left.
Moravian reached the double-bonus with 8:23 left in the game, which helped maintain the lead down the stretch. The Greyhounds finished 14-of-21 from the line on Tuesday.
Marcks picked up her fourth assist with a dish to sophomore forward Karlee Corvasce, who netted her first basket of the game with seven minutes left in the contest.
Moravian capped the victory with a solid defensive effort, giving up a season-low 45 points against Ursinus, which averages 66.3 points per game this season.
Ursinus finished with 22 turnovers and Moravian turned in 27 points off Bears giveaways. The Bears owned the offensive glass on Tuesday, contributing to 17 second-chance points compared to the Greyhounds' four.
Ursinus' leading scorer and rebounder, sophomore forward Jessica Porada, finished with nine points and seven boards.
Moravian will look to extend its latest winning streak to four when Landmark Conference play resumes on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 4 p.m. when Goucher College comes to Bethlehem.
