BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's basketball team clinched the program's 19th straight postseason appearance with a 76-60 Landmark Conference victory over visiting Elizabethtown College on Senior Day in Johnston Hall Saturday.
The Greyhounds finish the regular season at 15-10 overall and tied for third in the standings with the Blue Jays at 8-6; however, the Hounds are the fourth seed in the Landmark Conference Tournament due to a tiebreaker with Elizabethtown having gone 1-1 against top seed The University of Scranton and the Blue and Grey 0-2 versus the Royals this winter.
Moravian had four players in double figures in the victory Saturday led by senior guard Maddie Capuano, who had a game-high 21 points to go with five assists and three rebounds. Capuano heads to the postseason just eight points shy of becoming the fourth player in school history to reach 1,700 points. Senior forward Karlie Brogan had her fifth career double-double in the contest with a career-best 14 rebounds to go with 12 points, two assists and a pair of blocked shots while senior forward Nadine Ewald had 12 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots. Ewald became the third player in school history to reach 900 career rebounds, now with 903. Sophomore guard Kayla Yoegel nearly had her second double-double of the season with 11 points and nine boards.
Freshman guard Madison Amy tossed in nine points while sophomore guard Alix Buskirk had six points. Freshman guard Morgan Amy dished out a team-high six assists to go with five points, three blocked shots and two rebounds while senior Brooke Santy made the second start of her career on Senior Day.
Yoegel scored on Moravian's opening possession before Elizabethtown took a 6-4 lead. The Blue Jays had a 10-7 edge when Capuano hit a three-pointer and followed it with another jumper, and Ewald then hit a lay-up to put the Greyhounds up 14-10 with three minutes to go in the first quarter. The lead was still four points, 17-13, after another three-pointer by Capuano but Elizabethtown came back and had a 21-19 lead after ten minutes of action.
Yoegel netted the first basket of the second quarter to knot the score for the sixth time in the contest; however, the Blue Jays would build a 28-23 lead with just over five minutes left in the half. Madison Amy connected on a three-pointer, and Capuano tied the game again at 28-28. Elizabethtown answered to go up 30-28 before Moravian finished the half with a 10-0 run capped by a Buskirk lay-up just before the buzzer to send the Blue and Grey to the locker room with a 38-30 advantage.
Ewald hit a lay-up to start the second half and put the Moravian advantage at 10 points. The Blue Jays made it a 40-33 contest before a 17-3 run from the Greyhounds had the Hounds leading 57-36 after a jumper by Brogan with 4:34 left in the quarter. Capuano sank two late free throws to give the Blue and Grey a 61-44 edge after 30 minutes of action. Moravian's lead would not dip below 12 points over the final quarter as the Hounds clinched Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk's 30th postseason appearance in her 33rd career year.
The fourth seeded Greyhounds will head to top seed Scranton for a Landmark Conference Semifinal on Wednesday, February 26 with tip-off set for 7:00 p.m. at the John Long Center.
