Greyhounds Run Past Royals On The Road

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Greyhounds won their inaugural Landmark Conference game with a 63-61 victory at The University of Scranton. The win was the second straight for Moravian, and the Greyhounds' first at Scranton since a 79-76 win in the Middle Atlantic Conference playoffs on February 24, 1998.

The contest went back-and-forth early with neither team leading by more than two points until a three-point play by Greyhound sophomore forward Alyssa Bisci, who returned to the line-up after missing four games with an injury, to give Moravian a 13-10 lead with 9:57 remaining in the first half. The Royals, who received votes in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 poll after being ranked last week and were 18th in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Poll, would pull within a point before the Greyhounds pushed the lead to six points at 22-16 on a jumper by Moravian sophomore guard Amanda Brown with 5:41 left until the intermission. Scranton fought back and pulled within two points on three occasions before the Greyhounds scored the final three points of the half to head to the locker room with a 35-30 lead.

Moravian was just ten of 30 from the field (33.3 percent) and one of three behind the three-point line in the first half; however, the Greyhounds were 14 of 15 at the foul line to build their lead. The Royals connected on 12 of 35 field goal attempts and six of ten free throws while missing all four of their three-point attempts in the first 20 minutes.

When the teams came back onto the floor for the second half, it took nearly three minutes for anyone to score. Sophomore forward Kirsty Stearns scored at the 17:16 mark to give Moravian its biggest lead of the game to that point, 37-30. The Greyhounds pushed the lead to eight points on three occasions, the final time at 44-36 on a pair of free throws by sophomore forward Lauren Fornazor with 14:50 remaining. Over the next two minutes, Scranton went on a 7-0 run to pull within a point at 44-43 with 12:37 left in the second half, and the Royals would eventually jump out to a three-point lead, 52-49, with just 7:07 to play. Moravian would respond with an 11-3 run to take a five-point lead at 60-55 on a pair of Bisci free throws with 1:06 left on the clock. Scranton would get back within a point at 62-61 with just five seconds remaining on a three-pointer by guard Ryan Mooney; however, Moravian sophomore guard Kate Harrison hit one of two free throws with three seconds left to seal the victory.

The Greyhounds struggled shooting the ball in the second half, making just eight of 29 field goal attempts (27.6 percent) and two of eight three-pointers. The Greyhounds did continue to shoot the ball well from the foul line, making ten of 13 second half free throws including seven of eight in the final 1:30 of the contest. The Royals made 11 of 33 field goal attempts, three of 11 three-pointers and six of seven at the foul line in the final 20 minutes. Scranton also had a 50-42 advantage in rebounds while Moravian forced 21 turnovers while committing just 19. The Greyhounds had four players in double figures led by Bisci, who had 15 points, eight rebounds and two steals in her first action since the season opener on November 17th. Freshman guard/forward Emily Smith contributed 13 points and three steals while Brown tossed in 12 points. Stearns had ten points and eight rebounds in the Moravian win while Harrison added eight points and six boards. Fornazor contributed four rebounds and three points off of the bench while senior guard LaToya Blake had four rebounds, two points and two assists.

Forward Kathleen Daly led Scranton with a game high 20 points to go along with ten rebounds as the Royals dropped their conference season opener for the first time since the 1998-99 season and loss for the first time in 44 games against a conference opponent. Guard Stephanie Remington and Megan Kopecki each scored nine points while Kelly Tratthen grabbed a game high 14 rebounds.b