Greyhounds Ready for Landmark Conference Semifinal at No. 13 Scranton on February 21
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College women’s basketball team is the fourth seed in the 2018 Landmark Conference Tournament and is set to travel to top seed The University of Scranton in a semifinal game on Wednesday, February 21 tipping off at 7:00 p.m. in the John Long Center in Scranton.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's basketball team is the fourth seed in the 2018 Landmark Conference Tournament and is set to travel to top seed The University of Scranton in a semifinal game on Wednesday, February 21 tipping off at 7:00 p.m. in the John Long Center in Scranton.
Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children. All youth under the age of 10 are admitted free as are all students, faculty and staff with a valid ID from any of the eight Landmark Conference institutions. College students without a Landmark school ID and seniors are $3.
The Greyhounds are 17-8 overall this season and finished the Landmark regular season with a 7-7 mark while the Royals, who are ranked No. 13 in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, are 24-1 overall and were 13-1 in Landmark action. During the regular season, the Greyhounds and Royals played a pair of overtime games with Scranton winning both, 98-94 in Scranton on January 17 and 75-70 in Johnston Hall on January 31.
Wednesday's other semifinal game has second seed Juniata College hosting third seed Elizabethtown College at 7:30 p.m. The top remaining seed will host the 2018 Landmark Conference title game on Saturday, February 24 at a time to be announced with an automatic berth to the 2018 NCAA Division III Tournament on the line.
Moravian Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk has the Greyhounds heading to the postseason for the 17th straight season, and for the 28th time in her 31 seasons leading the Moravian program. The Greyhounds are making their tenth Landmark Conference Tournament appearance after missing out in 2014-15 on a tiebreaker for the first time in the history of the conference. Spirk has a career record of 579-274 and is looking to lead the Greyhounds to their fourth conference title that would go with a Landmark championship in 2010 and Middle Atlantic Conference titles in 1991 and 1992. Spirk has led Moravian to the NCAA Division III Tournament nine times in her tenure including the NCAA Division III National Championship game in 1992 and a first round win at the University of New England in 2016.
On the court this season, graduate student forward Camille McPherson leads Moravian in scoring at 17.0 points per game, and she is second on the squad at 7.2 rebounds per contest. McPherson, who has five double-doubles this season, also had 51 assists 38 three-pointers, 14 steals and seven blocked shots, and she has moved into eighth in school history with 1,420 points and 18th all-time with 552 career rebounds. McPherson was named to the Lehigh Valley Small College Basketball Team of the Year for the second straight winter.
Sophomore guard Maddie Capuano is netting 13.4 points per game for the Greyhounds, and she leads the squad with 96 assists and 44 three-pointers. Capuano also has 76 rebounds and 37 steals. Sophomore center Nadine Ewald is also scoring in double figures at 10.6 points per outing, and she tops the Hounds on the boards at 7.4 rebounds per game. Ewald, who has registered seven double-doubles this winter, also has a team-high 27 blocked shots to go along with 30 assists and 29 steals.
Sophomore guard Karlie Brogan is contributing 8.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest to go along with a team-high 38 steals, 44 assists, 17 three-pointers and 13 blocked shots. Senior forward Trista Cunningham has averages of 6.8 points and 5.3 rebounds, and she has 38 assists, 22 steals and 18 blocked shots while senior center Ciara Stewart is adding 5.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game with 26 blocked shots and seven steals.
Freshman guard Jennifer McClave has contributed 59 points, 50 assists, 42 rebounds and 20 steals in her debut season while freshman guard Julia Sirotnak has 81 points, 68 rebounds, 10 assists and eight blocked shots. Junior forward Ariana Caiati has added 43 rebounds and 35 points while senior guard Taylor Freeman has added 29 points. Senior forward Jen Cella has 21 rebounds, five blocked shots and eight points while junior guard Emily Walls has 22 points and 19 rebounds.
Junior guard Tyis Mullen has 13 points and seven rebounds this winter while sophomore guard Brooke Santy has added 15 points and seven assists. Freshman forward Jordan Beneducci has 17 points, 16 rebounds and 11 steals in her debut season while freshman guard Sarah Donati has 12 points and sophomore forward Christine Neu has contributed 11 rebounds and seven points.
