#23 Moravian Looks to Clinch Top Seed in Landmark Tournament at Catholic on Saturday
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The 23rd–ranked Moravian College women’s basketball team heads into its regular season finale Saturday at #12/13 The Catholic University of America tipping off at 4:00 p.m. in Washington, D.C. with a chance to clinch the top seed in the 2013 Landmark Conference Tournament on the line.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The 23rd–ranked Moravian College women's basketball team heads into its regular season finale Saturday at #12/13 The Catholic University of America tipping off at 4:00 p.m. in Washington, D.C. with a chance to clinch the top seed in the 2013 Landmark Conference Tournament on the line.
The Greyhounds, who are ranked in the latest USA Today Sports/WBCA Top 25 poll, are 20-4 overall this season and stand at 11-2 in Landmark Conference action. The Cardinals, who are 12th in the USA Today Sports/WBCA Poll and 13th in the D3hoops.com Top 25, are 23-1 on the season and 12-1 in conference play.
While both teams will host Landmark Conference Semifinals games on Wednesday, February 20th , Moravian can clinch the top seed and the right to host the conference championship game on Saturday, February 23rd with a victory. The teams will be tied at 12-2 in Landmark action if that happens but the Greyhounds will hold the tiebreaker by sweeping the regular season series from Catholic with a win on Saturday. When the two schools met in Bethlehem earlier this season on January 12th, Moravian earned a 62-59 victory.
The other two teams are set for the Landmark Tournament with The University of Scranton and Juniata College already clinching spots. Their seeding will also be determined on Saturday with one scenario from the other three games not involving Moravian and Catholic putting Juniata in the third seed and the rest of the possible results making Scranton the third season.
Moravian Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk has the Greyhounds heading to the postseason next week for the 12th straight season, and for the 23rd time in her 26 seasons leading the Moravian program. Spirk has a career record of 485-227 and is looking to lead the Greyhounds to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the eighth time in her tenure.
Leading the Greyhounds on the court this season has been sophomore forward Alexis Wright, who was named the 2013 Pete Nevins Lehigh Valley Small College Women's Basketball Player of the Year earlier this week. Wright is averaging 16.1 points and 11.3 rebounds per game, and she has added 47 blocked shots, 47 steals and 34 assists. Wright enters the game at Catholic on Saturday just three rebounds shy of becoming the 18th player in school history to reach 500 career rebounds.
Junior guard Katie O'Rourke is the only other Moravian player scoring in double figures this season with an average of 10.6 points per game, and she is adding 6.0 rebounds per contest. O'Rourke leads the Greyhounds with 103 assists and 59 steals while committing just 76 turnovers in a team high 725 minutes played. Junior forward Laura Jordan has contributed a team leading 49 blocked shots to go along with averages of 9.0 points and 6.4 rebounds per outing as well as 24 assists and 23 steals.
Senior guard Amanda Kreuder is netting 8.0 points in her final season, and she has added 84 rebounds, 45 assists and 37 steals while junior guard Danielle Brogan has a team high 36 three-pointers in addition to 7.8 points per game, 83 rebounds, 23 steals, 19 assists and ten blocked shots. Freshman forward Alesha Marcks, the only reserve to see action off the bench in all 24 games this season for the Greyhounds, has an average of 5.8 points per contest to go with 81 rebounds, 19 assists, 13 blocked shots and ten steals. Marcks leads the Greyhounds with a 52.7 (58-for-110) shooting percentage from the field.
Junior guard Alyssa Hann has contributed 49 points, 29 rebounds, 22 assists and 27 steals since returning to the line-up after missing the first nine games of the season with an injury. Freshman guard Karine Polgar has 59 points, 47 rebounds, 26 assists, 27 steals and ten blocked shots in her debut season while junior forward Ericka Blair has added 75 rebounds, 54 points, ten steals, six assists and four blocked shots. Freshman guard Emily MacDonnell has 51 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists as a reserve for the Greyhounds this season while freshman guard Steph Peterson has added 46 points, 28 rebounds. 11 assists and eight steals.
The Cardinals, who have already set school records for wins in a season (23) and in a Landmark Conference season (12), are coached by Matt Donohue, who is in his fifth season at the school.
On the court, Catholic is led by senior guard Jill Woerner, who is averaging 16.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game to go with 63 steals, 54 assists and 30 blocked shots. Senior forward Katarina Owunna has a team high of 8.7 rebounds per contest along with a scoring average of 11.1 points per outing, and Owunna has a team leading 38 blocked shots.
Junior guard Emily Grabiak leads the Cardinals with 25 three-pointers, 129 assists and 67 steals, and she has averages of 8.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per contest. Senior guard Jenny McGann is tossing in 8.1 points and grabbing 4.0 rebounds per game with 54 assists and 50 steals while senior forward Kelli Josephsen has averages of 7.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per contest with 34 assists, 22 steals and 16 blocked shots. Catholic's starters are all averaging more than 24.3 minutes per game this winter while Moravian has just two starters, Wright and O'Rourke, over 24.3 minutes a contest.
