ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Junior forward Alesha Marcks continued her hot week with a career high 30 points to lead the Moravian College women's basketball team to a 75-69 victory at Elizabethtown College in Landmark Conference action Saturday.
Marcks was 8-for-12 from the floor and 14-for-16 at the foul line in the contest, and she added 8 rebounds, just missing her third double-double of the week, three blocked shots, two assists and two steals. While leading Moravian to a 3-0 mark in Landmark action this week, Marcks has netted 65 points to go with 33 rebounds, 11 blocked shots, nine assists and four steals while shooting 23-for-45 from the floor and 19-for-22 at the foul line.
The Greyhounds, who were playing for the Blue Jays for the first time as a conference opponent since the 2006-07 season, had one of their best games of the season at the foul line, making 25-of-30 attempts to earn their third straight victory and improve to 8-6 overall and 4-2 in Landmark action.
"It was a big win for the team on the road," commented Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk. "We stayed focused for 40 minutes and played with energy for the entire game. We have to keep getting better each game as we move through the schedule."
Senior forward Alexis Wright picked up her seventh double-double of the season with a game-high 16 rebounds to go along with 13 points, three steals and a pair of blocked shots. Junior guard Emily MacDonnell tossed in nine points and added six assists and four boards while junior guard Samantha Caligiuri netted eight points.
Sophomore guard Morgan Calabrese had a career-high nine rebounds for the Greyhounds to go with seven points while junior guard Marie Rossignoli matched her career-best with six boards to go along with five points.
MacDonnell opened the game with a three-pointer but the host Blue Jays needed just 1:31 of the first half to move in front. Elizabethtown pulled out to a 22-13 lead at the 9:36 mark and also led by nine points, 24-15, before the intermission.
The Hounds would put together a 19-0 run to flip the score to 34-24 Moravian after a pair of free throws by Wright with 3:54 before the half. Wright had six points during the run while Marcks and Calabrese each chipped in five points. Moravian headed to the locker room with a 38-33 advantage, and the squad entered the game at 5-1 this season when leading at halftime.
The Blue Jays scored 11 of the first 15 points of the second half to move ahead, 44-42, with 15:46 to play. Rossignoli tied the contest a minute and a half later, and she hit the free throw to complete a three-point play and put the Hounds' back in front for the remainder of the game. Freshman guard Taylor Freeman connected on a three-pointer and MacDonnell hit a lay-up for a nine-point lead, 58-49, with 9:11 remaining.
The Greyhounds were 6-of-8 at the foul line in the final 1:01 with Caligiuri hitting three in the final 29 seconds to seal the victory.
Moravian is scheduled to return to action on Wednesday, January 14 in a Landmark game at Goucher College tipping off at 7:00 p.m.