SCRANTON, Pa. --- The fourth seeded women's basketball squad had a halftime lead but was unable to hold on as the Greyhounds fell at top seed and No. 14 The University of Scranton, 74-63, in the Landmark Conference Semifinals Wednesday evening.
The Hounds, who were in the postseason for the 19th consecutive season and the 30th time in 33 years under the direction of Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk, finish the year at 15-11 overall.
Senior guard Maddie Capuano paced Moravian with a game-high 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting, and Capuano was 8-for-11 beyond the three-point line to tie her own single-game record for three-pointers in one contest and to finish her career with a school record 223 three-pointers, edging Amy Endler's '93 mark of 222. Capuano, who netted at least 30 points in a game for the third time this season and eighth time in her career, also became the fourth player in school history to reach 1,700 career points and completes her career third in program history with 1,722 points to go along with 415 made free throws, which is third in school history, 542 made field goals, which is sixth all-time, and 286 assists, which is seventh in the Moravian record books.
Senior forward Nadine Ewald was the only other Greyhound to score in double digits on Wednesday with 15 points to go with eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and a pair of blocked shots. Ewald completes her career 11th in program history with 1,266 points, third all-time with 911 rebounds and seventh in school history with 107 blocked shots.
Freshman guard Jackie Kelly had six points in the contest while freshman guard Madison Amy and sophomore guard Kayla Yoegel both tossed in five points to go with two rebounds. Senior guard Karlie Brogan finished with five assists, two points and two rebounds as she completed her career 14th all-time with 620 rebounds to go with 897 points.
Scranton scored the opening basket before a jumper from Ewald, a three-pointer by Capuano and a three-pointer by Amy had Moravian leading 8-2. Brogan pushed the edge back to six points at 14-8 with just over two minutes left in the first quarter before the Royals went on a 7-1 run to knot the score at 15-15 after 10 minutes of action.
Ewald gave the Blue and Grey the lead to start the second quarter before Scranton retook the advantage and pushed it out to five points at 28-23. Capuano answered with back-to-back three-pointers, and two baskets from Ewald flipped the five-point deficit to a five-point lead at 33-28 with 2:46 until the intermission. The Royals finished the half with a 6-2 run to cut Moravian's lead to 35-34 at halftime.
Scranton netted the first eight points of the second half to build a seven-point edge before Yoegel scored. After a three-pointer by the Royals, Capuano sank two more three-pointers to get Moravian within two points at 45-43 midway through the quarter. Scranton pulled away again before Kelly sank a three-pointer to beat the buzzer and pull the Hounds within 55-49 after 30 minutes of action. The six points would be as close as the Greyhounds would get in the fourth quarter as the Royals eventually pushed their edge into double digits.
