#23 Moravian Falls to #12/13 Catholic, 79-75, in Overtime
February 16, 2013

#23 Moravian Falls to #12/13 Catholic, 79-75, in Overtime

WASHINGTON, D.C. --- The #12/13 ranked Catholic University of America rallied from a 15-point second half deficit with 7:40 to play to post a 79-75 overtime victory over visiting #23 Moravian College Saturday to clinch the top seed in the 2013 Landmark Conference Tournament.

Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. --- The #12/13 ranked Catholic University of America rallied from a 15-point second half deficit with 7:40 to play to post a 79-75 overtime victory over visiting #23 Moravian College Saturday to clinch the top seed in the 2013 Landmark Conference Tournament.

The game tipped off nearly two hours late as the Greyhounds ran into transportation issues on the trip South to Washington, D.C. delaying their arrival at the DuFour Center. Catholic, ranked 12th in the USA Today Sports/WBCA Poll and 13th in the D3hoops.com Top 25, finishes the regular season with an overall record of 24-1 and 13-1 in conference action with the lone loss to Moravian. The Greyhounds, ranked in the USA Today Sports/WBCA Poll, complete the regular season at 20-5 overall and 11-3 in conference action. Moravian will be the second seed in the Landmark Tournament.

The Cardinals took 2-0 lead a jumper by senior guard Jill Woerner on the first possession of the game but Moravian would tie the game on a lay-up from senior guard Amanda Kreuder at 18:53. Woerner made another basket to put Catholic back in front but the Greyhounds would take a 5-4 lead on a three-pointer from junior guard Danielle Brogan at the 17:45 mark.

The teams traded baskets until back-to-back baskets from Moravian junior forward Laura Jordan and a lay-up by Brogan gave the Greyhounds a 13-8 lead at the 15:49 mark. Woerner would close the game with a three-pointer. After a timeout, Moravian extended its lead to 17-10 on jumpers from sophomore forward Alexis Wright and junior guard Katie O'Rourke with 13:40 before the intermission.

Junior forward Liz Briones connected on a three-pointer for the Cardinals to cut the Moravian advantage to 17-13 before Greyhounds' freshman forward Alesha Marcks and O'Rourke hit back-to-back baskets for a 21-13 lead with 11:53 on the clock. Wright would push Moravian's lead into double digits, 23-13, with a lay-up at 11:17 before Catholic freshman guard Jayni Webster snapped the Greyhounds' 6-0 run with a jumper.

Woerner made a pair of free throws at the 8:46 mark for Catholic, and senior forward Kelli Josephsen added a lay-up as the Cardinals closed within five points, 26-21. Brogan answered right back for the Greyhounds with a lay-up before senior guard Jenny McGann made a basket for Catholic. After a timeout, O'Rourke made two free throws for the Greyhounds to make the score 30-23 with just over seven minutes left in the first half.

Marcks gave Moravian a 32-25 lead at the 5:38 mark while Woerner hit a lay-up 18 seconds later. Jordan would score the next basket with a jumper at 3:14 for a 34-27 Greyhound advantage. The Cardinals pulled within four points, 34-30, with 2:02 on a jumper from senior forward Katarina Owunna. After the teams traded baskets, Owunna made a pair of free throws with nine seconds on the clock to send the Cardinals to the locker room trailing by just two points, 36-34.

Moravian connected on 16-of-46 field goal attempts (34.8 percent), one-of-nine three-pointers and three-of-four free throws in the opening 20 minutes. The Greyhounds had just two turnovers in the first half while Catholic had nine turnovers. The Cardinals had a 30-25 edge in rebounds in the opening half with each squad pulling down 12 offensive rebounds. Catholic was 14-for-37 from the floor (37.8 percent), one-for-five on three-pointers and five-for-nine at the foul line in the first 20 minutes of action.

Catholic opened the second half with the ball, and Owunna scored on a lay-up just 16 seconds into the half to tie the game. The Cardinals would move in front 38-36 on a jumper from Woerner at 18:57 to retake the lead for the first time since early in the first half. Moravian's first basket of the second half was a jumper from O'Rourke at 17:37 that tied the game at 38-38, and O'Rourke put the Greyhounds back in front, 40-38, with a put back lay-up at 16:21.

Josephsen moved the Cardinals back ahead with a three-point play before Marcks gave the lead back to the Greyhounds, 42-41, with a jumper at 15:57. After a media timeout, Kreuder made back to back baskets, and junior guard Alyssa Hann and junior forward Ericka Blair added scores to push Moravian's lead to 50-41 with just under 14 minutes to play.

Webster would snap Moravian's 10-0 run with a put back lay-up but Marcks would get the Greyhounds' advantage back to double digits, 53-43, with her first three-pointer of the season at the 13:17 mark. Moravian would push its lead to 15 points, 61-46, after a pair of free throw from Wright with 10:04 to play. Josephsen connected on a three-pointer to stop another run by the Greyhounds and cut the Cardinal's deficit to 13 points, 61-48, with 8:59 left.

Catholic pulled within ten points, 61-51, on a pair of free throws by freshman forward Josephine Migash after the third media timeout of the second half, and Woerner made it an eight-point game, 61-53, at 7:26. Jordan would hit a jumper to get the Greyhounds lead back in double figures before Woerner and Josephsen hit back-to-back shots to bring the Cardinals within six points, 63-57, with 6:06 remaining.

O'Rourke connected on a lay-up with 5:12 on the clock to give Moravian a 65-57 lead before junior guard Emily Grabiak hit a lay-up to cut the advantage back to 65-59 with 4:45 to play. Owunna hit a put back lay-up at 4:05 to pull the Cardinals within four points, 65-61, at the final media timeout of the game.

Kreuder would give Moravian a 67-61 advantage with a jumper before McGann turned in a three-point play to cut the Greyhounds lead to three points. After a Moravian turnover, Woerner hit a fast break lay-up to cut Moravian's edge to 67-66 with 2:19 remaining. The Cardinals would tie the game at 67-67 on a free throw by McGann with 1:33 on the clock, and take a 69-67 lead when Woerner hit a jumper after an offensive rebound at 1:12.

Moravian tied the game back up at 69-69 with 44 seconds remaining on a lay-up by Wright. The Cardinals forced a turnover with 12 seconds to play but would not be able to score, sending the game into overtime.

In the second half, Moravian was 15-for-33 from the field (45.4 percent), one-for-four behind the three-point line and just two-for-two at the foul line before overtime. Catholic connected on 14-of-41 field goal attempts (34.1 percent) and seven-of-11 free throws in the second 20 minutes of action but the Cardinals did miss all four of their three-point attempts.

The Greyhounds opened the scoring in the overtime with a pair of free throws by O'Rourke 35 seconds into the extra five minutes but Catholic answered right back 12 seconds later on a jumper from McGann. Jordan added two more free throws for Moravian as the Greyhounds took a 73-71 lead after a minute of play in overtime.

Woerner would make a free throw for the Cardinals to pull Catholic within a point, 73-72, and after a timeout, the Cardinals would take a 75-73 lead on a three-pointer from Josephsen halfway through the extra session. Woerner extended the Catholic lead to four points, 77-73, with a pair of free throws with just 57 seconds to play in overtime.

Jordan scored on a put back basket with 14 seconds to play but it wouldn't be enough for the Greyhounds after Grabiak made two free throws with ten seconds to play.

In the extra five minutes, Moravian was just one-for-nine from the floor (11.1 percent), missed all three of its three-pointers and went four-for-five at the foul line. The Greyhounds finished the contest with just 12 turnovers while Catholic had 14 turnovers in the game. The Cardinals, who finished the contest with a 60-56 edge in rebounds including 26-23 on the offensive glass, were two-for-six from the field (33.3 percent), one-for-one on three-pointers and five-for-six at the foul line in the extra session.

Moravian had five players in double figures in the game with Jordan leading way with 16 points and nine rebounds. O'Rourke tossed 15 points, and she tied her career high with eight assists while grabbing four boards. Wright finished with 12 points, and she added nine rebounds to become the 18th player in school history to reach 500 rebounds, now with 506, to go with three blocked shots. Marcks had 11 points and four boards off of the Greyhounds' bench while Kreuder finished with ten points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Brogan contributed seven points and seven boards for Moravian.

Woerner led four Catholic players in double figures with a game high 25 points to go with ten rebounds, three steals and a pair of blocked shots. Josephsen and McGann each tossed in 12 points with Josephsen adding seven rebounds while Owunna had a double-double of 11 points and 13 boards to go with five blocked shots. Grabiak also had a double-double for the Cardinals with 13 rebounds and 12 assists to go with six points while Webster added six of Catholic's 13 bench points in the game.     

The Greyhounds will return to action on Wednesday, February 20th when they host third seeded The University of Scranton in a Landmark Conference semifinal game tipping off at 7:00 p.m. in Johnston Hall. The Cardinals will host fourth seed Juniata College in the other semifinal game on Wednesday starting at 5:30 p.m. in Washington, D.C.