BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's basketball team rallied from an 11-point fourth quarter deficit to tie the game before falling to Lycoming College 72-69 in the championship game of the 17th Steel Club Classic Sunday afternoon in Johnston Hall.
The Greyhounds, now 7-5 on the year, had two players in double figures with senior guard Maddie Capuano scoring a game-high 30 points including 12-for-12 at the foul line, tying for the best single game performance in school history, to go with three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Senior forward Nadine Ewald had her second straight and ninth double-double of season with 20 points and 17 rebounds to go along two steals and two blocked shots. Both Capuano and Ewald were selected to the All-Tournament Team along with Kenzie Reed from Lycoming, Madison DeLude from William Paterson University and Jaylin Ortiz from Neumann University while Kayla Kline from Lycoming was honored as the Tournament's Most Valuable Player.
Freshman guard Morgan Amy contributed six points and seven assists while freshman guard Madison Amy had five points. Sophomore guard Kayla Yoegel added five rebounds, four points and two steals while junior forward Jordan Beneducci and freshman guard Jackie Kelly both had two points. Senior guard Karlie Brogan grabbed three boards while freshman forward Emily Markowski pulled down two rebounds.
The Warriors opened the scoring, and the Greyhounds took their first lead at 7-4 on a three-pointer from Capuano. Morgan Amy hit a jumper to cap a 9-0 run as the Blue and Grey opened an 11-4 lead with 5:57 left in the opening quarter. Capuano pushed the advantage up to eight points at 16-8 while Beneducci scored the final basket of the first quarter as Moravian led 21-17 after 10 minutes of action.
Lycoming started the scoring in the second period before the Greyhounds answered with a three-pointer from Madison Amy, a lay-up from Ewald and a jumper from Kelly to build a 28-19 edge. The Blue and Grey pushed the lead out to 12 points, 33-21, on a three-point play by Capuano with 4:09 before the intermission. The Warriors scored the next 12 points to knot the score at 33-33 before Capuano hit a three-pointer just before the buzzer to send the Hounds to the locker room with a 36-33 edge.
Capuano drained a three-pointer to begin the second half to make it a six-point lead. Ewald added a three-point play and Morgan Amy hit a jumper to push the edge to 44-35 three minutes into the third quarter. However, Moravian was held to just one point on a free throw by Ewald the rest of the quarter while Lycoming scored 17 points to lead 52-45 after 30 minutes of action.
The Warriors pushed their advantage to 11 points at 58-47 just over two minutes into the fourth quarter. Ewald connected on a lay-up to start a 9-0 run for the Blue and Grey as Yoegel cut it to a two-point game at 58-56 with a jumper in the lane. Capuano knotted the score at 60-60 on a pair of free throws with 3:04 remaining. There would be four more ties, the final time at 68-68 after a lay-up from Ewald with 44 seconds left; however, Moravian was unable to retake the lead as Lycoming netted the next four points.
The Greyhounds are scheduled to return to action on Saturday, January 11 when the squad hosts The Catholic University of America in a Landmark Conference contest beginning at 4:00 p.m. in Johnston Hall.
