HUNTINGDON, Pa. --- Senior forward Alesha Marcks became the 25th player in Moravian College women's basketball history to reach 1,000 career points as she helped the Greyhounds rally from a first half deficit to earn a 71-66 victory at Juniata College Monday evening in Landmark Conference action.
The Hounds, now 14-3 overall and 7-1 in Landmark Conference action, shot 40.7 percent (11-for-27) from the floor, 66.7 percent (4-for-6) behind the three-point line and 71.4 percent (10-for-14) at the foul line in the second half as they outscored the Eagles 36-30 over the final 20 minutes of action.
Junior forward Camille McPherson led three Moravian players in double figures with a career-high 22 points to go with six rebounds. Graduate student forward Alexis Wright had her 51st career double-double before halftime including her ninth of the season as she pulled down a game-high 19 rebounds to go with 18 points. Wright moved into fourth in school history in scoring with 1,572 points and raised her school record to 1,133 rebounds, and Wright became the second player in school history to reach 250 blocked shots with four against the Eagles to raise her career mark to 253. Wright grabbed 19 rebounds for the second time in a game this season and the fifth time in her career she has had at least 19 rebounds in a contest.
Junior guard Morgan Calabrese added 13 points and three boards while Marcks just missed a double-double with eight points and 12 rebounds. Marcks now has 1,002 points, and she is 14th in career rebounds with 555. Freshman guard Maggie Melhem chipped in six points with a pair of steals while senior guard Samantha Caligiuri had a team-high six assists to go with three rebounds and two steals. Sophomore forward Trista Cunningham had two boards in the victory while senior forward Karlee Corvasce added two points.
Calabrese gave Moravian an early 2-0 lead, and the Blue and Grey lead 7-4 after a three-pointer by McPherson three and a half minutes into action. Juniata fought back and took a 12-10 but a buzzer beating jumper from Wright had the Greyhounds up 17-16 at the end of the first period.
The Eagles scored the first six points of the second quarter for a 22-17 lead, and Juniata was up 26-20 at the 6:59 mark and that would be the Eagles' largest lead of the contest. Marcks cut the deficit to two with a pair of free throws, and then she tied the game at 26-26 with a jumper. On Moravian's next possession, Marcks connected on another jump shot tying the game at 28-28 with 4:27 to play in the first half as she joined Moravian's 1,000-point club. Melhem hit a three-pointer as the Hounds went ahead 33-30 before Juniata scored six of the final eight points of the first half to head to the locker room with a 36-35 lead.
The Eagles would push that lead to six points on three occasions in the first half of the third quarter before Moravian retook the lead, 49-48, on a three-pointer by McPherson with 2:59 on the clock. Juniata briefly retook the lead but the Blue and Grey scored seven of the final eight points of the third period to lead 56-51 after 30 minutes of action.
Calabrese started the fourth quarter with a three-pointer and a lay-up, and a lay-up by Marcks off of a steal had Moravian leading 63-51 just 45 seconds into the final period. Juniata answered with an 11-1 run to cut the Greyhounds' lead to 64-62; however, a pair of baskets by Wright, two free throws from McPherson and one free throw from Caligiuri with five seconds to play sealed the win for Moravian.
The Greyhounds will continue their four-game road trip with a Landmark Conference game at The United States Merchant Marine Academy on Wednesday, January 27 with tip-off slated for 7:00 p.m. in Kings Point, New York.
Photo courtesy of J.D. Cavrich
