BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Moravian College women's basketball team continued a theme that began at the beginning of this season: winning gritty games and playing smart, fundamental basketball.
The Greyhounds defeated Susquehanna University, 67-65, on Saturday afternoon in a Landmark Conference clash in Johnston Hall after a 15-of-16 (93.8 percent) mark from the free throw line and only 13 turnovers compared to 18 assists to win, despite shooting .362 from the floor.
Senior guard Danielle Brogan scored four of her eight points during crunch-time to help give the Greyhounds (14-3, 5-1 Landmark) a late 67-63 lead. The senior co-captain clinched the game with a steal with six seconds left in the game as the Crusaders had an opportunity to tie or take the lead. Brogan had a clear lane for a layup, but she pulled it back and started a keep away drill to run out the clock.
"Coach doesn't like us trying to make that steal up there, because it takes you out of the play," Brogan admitted. "I felt like I was there and I could go for it. I knew how much time was left, so I pulled it back out because they were nervous I was going in for the layup."
Moravian ended up on the winning end of a back-and-forth conference war that saw 11 lead changes and nine ties on Saturday. The Hounds avoided their first losing streak of the season after dropping a Landmark Conference game at The Catholic University of America on the road last weekend.
"It means a lot," Brogan said of the rebound win. "We never want to be on a losing streak. It was only one game, but we didn't want it to turn into anything more than that. It was close down the stretch today but we really grinded it out as a team."
Senior point guard Katie O'Rourke led all scorers with 22 points (7-of-12 FG, 7-of-7 FT) to go with six rebounds and six assists. Senior forwards Ericka Blair and Laura Jordan netted 12 and 10 points, respectively, while Jordan blocked a career-high nine shots in the victory. Blair was a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe.
O'Rourke was on the attack early, getting the Greyhounds out to a 6-2 lead on two layups within the opening three minutes. The Crusaders would battle back to take, and hold, a lead until sophomore swing Alesha Marcks (10 points, seven rebounds) converted a driving layup for the 11-10 Moravian advantage.
The see-saw battle began to take shape as both sides traded baskets. Moravian took three separate leads thanks to a Nellie Tanguay three-pointer and back-to-back jumpers from Marcks. The Greyhounds led until 6:11 left in the first half, when Heather Zinn drained a three for the Crusaders to tie the game at 24-24.
Brogan handed the Hounds their largest lead of the opening half with a made jumper and a 30-24 lead. Susquehanna answered with a 12-2 run with only 13 ticks left in the first half, but Jordan sent Moravian to the locker rooms on the high note with a jumper, and the Greyhounds trailed 36-34 at the break.
The Crusaders continued the run in the second half, netting the first four points to take a 40-34 lead. Susquehanna slowly built a seven-point lead, staying solid at the free throw line and sinking a trey to go up 49-42 with 15 minutes remaining.
O'Rourke then fired up a 9-2 Moravian run with a three-pointer to tie the game at 51-51. Perfect free throw shooting from Blair and O'Rourke kept the Hounds within two points at 63-61 with less than four minutes remaining.
Brogan knotted the game at 63 apiece with a stutter move under the basket for the layup assisted by O'Rourke, and followed it with a defensive rebound. She finished off the next possession with a long two-pointer for the 65-63 advantage, the Greyhounds' first lead since 10:26 to go.
"Coach was telling us to be confident during a timeout late in the game," Brogan said. "She told us to believe in ourselves. I took my time, and that was it."
O'Rourke stretched the lead to 67-63 with another nice move under the rim, before Susquehanna made two free throws to slice the lead in half with under a minute to play.
Moravian is back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 29 for a road trip to The University of Scranton, the leaders of the Landmark Conference at 7-0. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. from the Royals' Long Center.
