Hounds Advance to Landmark Championship With OT Win
February 26, 2014

Hounds Advance to Landmark Championship With OT Win

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The No. 3 seeded Moravian College women’s basketball team advanced to the Landmark Conference championship with a 66-65 overtime victory over No. 2 The Catholic University of America on Wednesday night in the semifinals.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The No. 3 seeded Moravian College women's basketball team advanced to the Landmark Conference championship with a 66-65 overtime victory over No. 2 The Catholic University of America on Wednesday night in the semifinals.

The Greyhounds (20-6) may have been the lower seed in their third matchup with Catholic this season, with the Cardinals getting the regular season sweep, but head coach Mary Beth Spirk would not call it an upset.

"This team believed they belonged in the conference championship," the 27th-year head coach said. "I was pleased with our effort. We said if we're going to go down again, we're going to go down swinging. Our defensive intensity was great right from the start. We've been working on moving against that zone all week, and we executed that beautifully early on."

Catholic had just beaten Moravian in the regular-season finale on Saturday in Johnston Hall, giving the Cardinals home-court advantage in the rematch on Semifinal Wednesday. The difference this time was some shutdown defense and a cold-blooded foul shooter during the waning seconds of overtime.

With Moravian up two with just 12 seconds left in the extra period, senior guard Alyssa Hann went to the line after being fouled. Two shots would help put the game on ice.

"I knew it was a key moment," said Hann, who scored nine points in the semifinal win. "I was really calm, actually. We practice free throws every day at practice. The only thing going through my head was that we needed to get the win. I just told myself, 'I shoot these every day at practice, go through my routine, and put them in.'"

Hann put them both in for the 66-62 lead. Catholic's leading scorer, senior Emily Grabiak, hit a three-pointer with 5.6 seconds showing on the clock to bring the Cardinals within one. Catholic again fouled Hann, who missed a pair, but time quickly ran out on the Cardinals, whose last-ditch attempt at a game-winner fell short.

"Alyssa has been in that position before," Spirk said. "She's mentally tough. What really stood out was her defense on their leading scorer. She did a great job down the stretch with her quickness. I almost knew that those two foul shots would go in."

Hann was a triple threat on Wednesday. Her clutch free throws were just one aspect to an outstanding game. Her three-pointer tied the game at 59-59 with 1:12 left in regulation, and that score held into overtime. The senior guard also came up with a blocked shot on Catholic's next possession to keep the Cardinals from netting a game-winner.

"It was teamwork and defense," Hann said. "We really focused on the defense and came up with great steals, blocks and played great help defense all over the court. Defense is what won this game tonight. We hit key shots when we need to, and our great chemistry, both on and off the court, showed tonight."

Senior guard Danielle Brogan's three-point shooting gave Moravian a head of steam to take as much as a 15-point lead in the second half. Her fifth trey of the contest gave the Greyhounds a 62-59 lead in overtime, a lead they would not relinquish en route to a playoff victory. Brogan notched her second career double-double, finishing with a game-high 18 points and adding 10 rebounds. She hit 3-of-4 from the free throw line and added three steals and an assist.

Senior point guard Katie O'Rourke scored 14 points to go with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Senior forward Ericka Blair added 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Moravian took a 31-28 lead into halftime after both sides overcame sluggish starts to the semifinal contest. Brogan got the ball rolling on the big second-half cushion, nailing three treys in the span of 1:13 to spur a 12-1 Moravian run.

Hann and O'Rourke netted back-to-back buckets at the end of the run to give the Greyhounds their largest lead of the game at 48-33.

The Cardinals chipped away at the advantage, going on a 9-0 run stretching over a six-minute Moravian scoreless stint. Catholic eventually tied the game at 52-52 with 4:04 remaining in regulation. The Cardinals finished the rally with a 9-0 run to take a 57-52 lead with 2:43 to play.

"We got a little tired and expended a ton of energy getting out to that lead," Spirk said. "We got a little unlucky during a cold stretch, but we never hung our heads. We hung in there, attacked the basket and got a couple fouls. We were just determined in overtime. This group wanted to get to the championship."

The attacking mentality put Brogan and O'Rourke on the foul line with around two minutes to play, and the senior captains both made their pair to set the score at 57-56 in Catholic's favor. After a Catholic jumper, Hann's three tied the game.

The two sides combined to hit just two of 13 shots taken in overtime. The Greyhounds' aggressiveness getting to the basket, and consequently, the charity stripe, aided the one-point overtime victory on Wednesday.

Top-seed The University of Scranton defeated No. 4 Juniata College in the other semifinal, setting up the championship game at Scranton. Moravian travels to the Royals' Long Center for the title game on Saturday, March 1 at 4:30 p.m.

"This is just another step," Hann said. "We're going for the championship. We've worked all season for this, in practice, during lifting and throughout 20 wins. We're ecstatic to play in the championship."

The Greyhounds are seeking 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 seven times in her tenure including the NCAA Division III National Championship game in 1992.