BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's basketball team used a balanced scoring attack and received contributions from all 16 players as the Greyhounds won their fourth straight game with an 83-59 Landmark Conference win over Drew University in Johnston Hall Wednesday evening.
The Greyhounds, who are now 17-3 overall and 8-1 in Landmark action, held a lead for the entire contest as sophomore forward Alesha Marcks tossed in a team high 14 points to go with three rebounds. Senior guard Katie O'Rourke added 12 points, all in the first half, to go with seven assists while senior forwards Ericka Blair and Laura Jordan each added 11 points with Blair grabbing a team high five rebounds and Jordan contributing four boards and three blocked shots.
"We wanted to play better than we did over at Drew last month," stated Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk, who picked up her 500th career win against the Rangers on January 15. "We talked about taking care of business early, and we did that, as well as spreading the ball around. I had no idea who are leading scorer was, and it is nice to have a balanced scoring attack like we did. That will serve us well going forward if we can continue it.
Moravian nearly had six players in double figures as senior guard Danielle Brogan and freshman forward Natalie Vanderlaan-Meyering each netted eight points with Vanderlaan-Meyering adding four boards. Senior guard Alyssa Hann added six points while sophomore forward Karlee Corvasce had four points and three rebounds.
Twelve of the Greyhounds' 16 players scored a point in the game, and Moravian shook off the cold weather outside to have a hot shooting hand in Johnston Hall as the Greyhounds connected on 51.6 percent of their field goal attempts (33-for-64).
"What's scary about our shooting percentage tonight is we missed a bunch of lay-ups that we should be making," Spirk explained. "We're getting into a rhythm on offense. Defensively, I thought we had a couple of breakdowns during the game but with everyone getting some playing time, I feel overall we played a solid game.
Moravian had a 35-32 edge in rebounds during the game, and the Hounds committed just 12 turnovers, only two in the first half, while forcing the Rangers into 23 turnovers. Hannah Miller led Drew with a game-high 17 points while Breana Wilson added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go with eight assists.
Jordan put the Greyhounds on the scoreboard first with a lay-up, and Moravian pushed its lead into double digits, 20-10, with 13:26 left in the first half on a three-pointer by Brogan. The lead pushed passed 20 points, and the Hounds headed to the intermission with a 47-23 advantage. Moravian's lead would peak at 30 points, 71-41, on Jordan's third three-pointer of the season with 7:24 remaining.
The Greyhounds will return to action on Saturday, February 8 when they host Juniata College in a Landmark Conference game in Johnston Hall tipping off at 2:00 p.m. The contest is Moravian's annual Play 4Kay game, and the Hounds will wear pink uniforms for the game. The afternoon kicks off with the Greyhounds' annual alumni game at 12:00 p.m.
