READING, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's basketball team rallied from a 12-point second half deficit to force an extra five minutes of action before falling to host Albright College, 75-71, in overtime Sunday in the Greyhounds final game of the first semester.
The Hounds trailed 56-44 with 8:05 to play before limiting the Lions to six points during the rest of regulation. Senior forward Alexis Wright scored 10 of her game-high 23 points during the 18-6 run to close the second half while freshman guard Taylor Freeman hit a jumper at the buzzer to force overtime.
Albright ran out to a 74-64 lead in the extra session before Moravian rallied again in the final 33 seconds to close the gap to the final of four points.
Wright led four Greyhounds in double figures, and she added a game-high 16 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season to go with four blocked shots and three steals. Wright also moved to sixth in school history with 733 career boards, and she climbed to 18th in career scoring with 1,067 points.
Junior forward Alesha Marcks tossed in 12 points to go with seven rebounds, four assists and a pair of blocked shots while sophomore guard Morgan Calabrese and freshman forward Trista Cunningham each had 10 points. Calabrese contributed three steals, two assists and a pair of rebounds while Cunningham pulled down four boards. Freeman finished with eight points while junior guard Marie Rossignoli added four points and three rebounds in her first career start.
The Hounds jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead on shots by Calabrese and Marks, and Moravian was up 8-4 on a lay-up from Rossignoli 2:45 into the game. The contest would go back-and-forth over the next few minutes with Cunningham giving the Greyhounds a 13-12 edge at the 14:21 mark. Albright then went on a 13-2 run over the next six minutes to take control of the action.
Moravian would close within four points, 31-27, on the first career basket by freshman forward Jen Cella, who was seeing her first action of the year after missing the first nine games of the season with an injury. However, Albright scored eight of the final 10 points of the half to head to the locker room with a 39-29 lead.
Four and a half minutes into the second half, Freeman connected on a jumper to cut the Lions' lead to five points, 45-38, but Albright would push the advantage back into double digits, leading 56-44 with 8:05 on the clock. Moravian's defense would allow just three baskets and force the Lions into five turnovers during the rest of regulation as Wright heated up on the offensive end.
The Lions opened the scoring in overtime before Wright tied the contest again at 64-64 but the Hounds would go three minutes without scoring as Albright pulled out to a 10-point lead.
The game was the second of the season that Moravian rallied late to force overtime and nearly became the third time that the Hounds have come back from a double-digit deficit to earn a victory.
Moravian will now have two weeks off from action for hosting Susquehanna University in a Landmark Conference game on Saturday, January 3, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. in Johnston Hall.
