BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's basketball team used a 28-point second quarter and a balanced scoring attack to finish the 2015-16 Landmark Conference campaign with an 85-58 win over Juniata College Saturday afternoon in Johnston Hall.
The Greyhounds finish the regular season with a 19-6 overall record and a 12-4 mark in Landmark Conference action. The victory by the Blue and Grey coupled with a win from the University of Scranton clinched the second seed in the 2016 Landmark Conference Tournament for the Hounds and a home semifinal game on Wednesday, February 24 at 7:00 p.m. in Johnston Hall. Moravian will have to wait until Sunday's results to know if its opponent will be The Catholic University of America or Susquehanna University.
"We're just ecstatic with win," commented Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk. "It was nice to start those seniors and get them some playing time for the work that they have put into the program over the last four years. When we came in with Alexis, Camille and Morgan, those guys really stepped it up.
"We were rooting for Scranton and they took care of business just as we did so we're really excited to be in this position," continued Spirk. "That is what we wanted to do, host a playoff game, and that is what we are doing. Now we hope that we can get one more win and hopefully get another shot at Scranton."
Senior forward Alesha Marcks led a trio of Greyhounds in double figures as she netted 15 points to move into 18th in school history with 1,106 points. Marcks also had six rebounds to raise her career total to 621, 12th in the record books. Graduate student and forward Alexis Wright picked up her 15th double-double of the season and the 57th of her career with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Wright also dished out a team-leading four assists. Wright is third in school history with 1,676 points and the school record holder with 1,235 rebounds in 118 career games, and she was 9-for-9 at the foul line Saturday afternoon to become the third player in school history to make 400 career free throws. She holds the school record at 628 free throws attempted.
Junior guard Morgan Calabrese tossed in 12 points all in 10 minutes of action in the first half, and she added three assists while freshman guard Maggie Melhem netted nine points to go with five boards, two blocked shots and two steals. Junior forward Camille McPherson also scored nine points to go with six rebounds while senior guard Emily MacDonnell had eight points, four boards and two steals in her Senior Day start.
"I thought Emily did a nice job today, and Alesha hit a couple of key baskets with and one free throw shots," stated Spirk. "I thought we spread it around really well today."
Senior guard Karine Polgar contributed six points, three rebounds and a pair of steals for the Greyhounds while freshman guard Kaeli White netted a career-high four points. Sophomore guard Victoria McCaslin chipped in three points while senior forward Karlee Corvasce had two rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Senior guard Marie Rossignoli added two points and two rebounds while senior guard Samantha Caligiuri had an assist and a rebound in her final regular season game for the Hounds.
Sophomore forward Jen Cella led Moravian with three blocked shots to go with two assists and two rebounds while freshmen forwards Kaitlyn Roberto and Caitlin Flanagan and sophomore guard Taylor Freeman each scored two points. All 16 Greyhounds in uniform played at least four minutes in the game.
The contest started slow for Moravian after a 3-0 lead on a jumper by Marcks and free throw from MacDonnell in the first 1:38 of action. However, over the next five minutes, the Greyhounds were limited to just six free throws and were 1-for-14 from the floor as Juniata opened up a 17-9 lead. Trailing 20-11 with 2:45 left in the opening quarter, the Blue and Grey went on an 11-0 run to take a 22-20 lead on a jumper from Calabrese with 53 seconds left in the first period and that was the score at the end of the quarter.
Moravian carried the momentum into the second ten minutes of action when the Greyhounds outscored the Eagles, 28-12. McPherson started the second quarter with a three-pointer for a 25-20 advantage. Juniata cut the lead to one on a pair of occasions before 10-0 run pushed the advantage into double digits at 39-28 on a Melhem lay-up with 4:47 before the intermission. Moravian would lead 50-32 at halftime.
The Greyhounds tossed in another 20 points in the third quarter as their lead expanded to 30 points two times, the final time at 70-40 with 1:08 to go in the third period. The Blue and Grey led 70-44 after 30 minutes of action. The bench was able to maintain the lead through the fourth quarter.
The Greyhounds are in the postseason for the 26th time in the 29 years that Spirk has led the program and will find out on Sunday who they play in the Landmark Conference Semifinals on Wednesday, February 24.
