Moravian Falls to Catholic in Overtime in Landmark Conference Semifinals
February 24, 2016

Moravian Falls to Catholic in Overtime in Landmark Conference Semifinals

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The second seeded Moravian College women’s basketball team led by as many as 11 points in the second half, and the Greyhounds had a three-point lead with nine seconds left in regulation before falling to third seed The Catholic University of America in a Landmark Conference Semifinal game in Johnston Hall Wednesday evening.

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BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The second seeded Moravian College women's basketball team led by as many as 11 points in the second half, and the Greyhounds had a three-point lead with nine seconds left in regulation before falling to third seed The Catholic University of America in a Landmark Conference Semifinal game in Johnston Hall Wednesday evening.

The Hounds, now 19-7 overall, had a tale of two halves shooting the ball, making 14-of-35 field goal attempts and 6-of-17 three-pointers in the opening half and just 11-of-40 attempts from the floor and 3-of-12 three-pointers in the final 25 minutes of action. Moravian also committed 29 turnovers in the contest.

"I think it is a game that we could have and probably should have won but we just turned the ball over too much," commented Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk. "It is a shame that we gave a great effort and stayed in the game plan most of the game and then the last five minutes we didn't. I thought we also took too many three-pointers when they were in foul trouble since we were getting points going inside but we also made too many turnovers in big situations."

Moravian had four players in double figures with junior guard Morgan Calabrese  leading the way with 17 points. Junior forward Camille McPherson netted 13 points with four assists and three steals while senior forward Alesha Marcks had 11 points, nine boards and three assists to move into 16th in school history with 1,117 points and 11th in rebounding with 630 boards in 110 career games.

Graduate student forward Alexis Wright picked up her 16th double-double of the season and the 57th of her career with 10 points and a game-high 16 rebounds to go with five assists, three blocked shots and a pair of steals. Wright has a school record 1,251 rebounds in 119 career games, one shy of tying the school record, and she is third in points with 1,686, second in blocked shots with 275 and seventh in steals at 209.

Senior guard Emily MacDonnell finished with nine points including eight in the first half as Moravian built an early lead, and she had four rebounds. Senior guard Samantha Caligiuri, senior guard Karine Polgar and freshman guard Maggie Melhem all had five points with Caligiuri adding four rebounds and a pair of assists. Sophomore forward Trista Cunningham contributed two points, two rebounds and a blocked shot in her return to the line-up after missing the last three games with an injury.

Marcks gave the Blue and Grey a quick 2-0 lead just 11 seconds into the game before Catholic tied it. The first 10 minutes of action saw three ties and Moravian leading by four points, 12-8, on a three-pointer by Polgar at the 3:37 mark but that would be the Hounds' last points of the period as Catholic had a 14-12 lead at the quarter break.

After giving up the first points of the second quarter, back-to-back three-pointers by Melhem and Marcks put the Greyhounds back in front, 18-16. The teams would be tied three more times in the quarter and exchange the lead seven times before Moravian built a 37-31 lead with six seconds before the intermission on a pair of Calabrese free throws. The Cardinals would get a last second basket to set the score at 37-33 Hounds at halftime.

The Greyhounds would lead the entire third quarter with the lead hitting double digits, 47-37, on a Caligiuri three-pointer with 4:37 on the clock. The advantage reached 11 points, 51-40, on a MacDonnell free throw a minute and a half later, and Moravian would lead 54-47 after 30 minutes of action.

Wright pushed the lead to 56-47 with two early free throws in the fourth period, and Cunningham made the lead 59-53 with a lay-up at the 6:05 mark before Catholic scored seven straight points to take a 60-59 advantage with 3:06 to play. Marcks hit a jumper to give Moravian the lead back before the Cardinals went in front again. Marcks added another jumper as the Greyhounds moved in front 63-62 with 1:28 remaining and Wright scored for a three-point advantage. Catholic cut the lead to a point twice but both times Moravian hit a pair of free throws, the second time by Calabrese with nine seconds to play. The Cardinals came down and banked in a three-pointer to tie the score at 69-69 with just 1.7 seconds left. The Greyhounds used their final timeout to advance the ball and Wright took a 12-foot jumper from the right wing that skipped off the rim as the horn sounded at the end of regulation forcing overtime.

McPherson opened extra session with a lay-up, and Calabrese had Moravian up 74-70 with a three-pointer at the 3:18 mark. However, the Greyhounds would not score again until Calabrese connected on another three-pointer with just two seconds remaining in overtime after the Cardinals had scored 14 straight points.

Moravian will now wait until Monday, February 29 when the ECAC will announce the field for the 2016 ECAC Division III South Championship Tournament, an eight-team field, after the NCAA selects the 64 teams for its National Championship Tournament to see if the Greyhounds will continue their season.