Hounds Earn #4 Seed in ECAC Tournament & Host Marywood on Wednesday
DANBURY, Conn. --- The Moravian College women’s basketball team is heading to the postseason for the 14th consecutive year after the Greyhounds received a bid to the 2015 ECAC Division III South Tournament with the Greyhounds earning the fourth seed and hosting sixth seeded Marywood University in a quarterfinal game in Johnston Hall on Wednesday, March 4 with tip-off set for 6:00 p.m.
DANBURY, Conn. --- The Moravian College women's basketball team is heading to the postseason for the 14th consecutive year after the Greyhounds received a bid to the 2015 ECAC Division III South Tournament with the Greyhounds earning the fourth seed and hosting sixth seeded Marywood University in a quarterfinal game in Johnston Hall on Wednesday, March 4 with tip-off set for 6:00 p.m.
Albright College received the top seed in the seven-team ECAC South Tournament, and the Lions (20-7) will receive a bye in the quarterfinals before hosting the semifinals and finals in Reading on March 7-8.The quarterfinal games were changes on Tuesday to avoid having two schools travel across Pennsylvania in the winter weather.
Albright is scheduled to play the winner of the Moravian-Marywood game on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday's other semifinal games include second seed Lebanon Valley College (18-9) hosting seventh seed Delaware Valley College (13-13) and third seeded Waynesburg University (15-11) hosting fifth seed Washington & Jefferson College (20-7).
"The coaches and players are excited to be playing in the postseason, and we are thrilled to be hosting," commented Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk. "It is another opportunity to play together, and it is a chance to win a championship. We will be ready to play on Wednesday."
Spirk has the program in the postseason for the 25th time in her 28 years at the helm of the Greyhounds, and she enters the ECAC Tournament with a career record of 521-249. Of those 25 postseason appearances for Spirk, 11 have been in the ECACs with a championship in 2007. Moravian has reached the ECAC South Tournament a total of 14 times with two titles including one in 1987.
Moravian is 14-11 this season, and the Hounds finished the Landmark Conference regular season with a 10-6 mark and in a tie for fourth place with Susquehanna University; however, the Greyhounds lost the tiebreaker and missed the conference tournament for the first time as a member of the Landmark Conference.
The Blue and Grey have been led on the court this season by junior forward Alesha Marcks and senior forward Alexis Wright. Marcks paces the squad at 16.2 points per game, and she is second to Wright on the boards at 7.9 rebounds per contest. Marcks is also connecting on 86.7 percent of her free throw attempts this winter, going 150-of-173 at the charity stripe, and she has added 57 assists, 39 steals and 36 blocked shots.
Wright is averaging a double-double at 15.4 points and 12.0 rebounds per outing, and she also leads the Greyhounds with 61 blocked shots and 54 steals to go with 39 assists. Wright is second in school history with 922 career rebounds and 200 career blocked shots, and she ranks eighth all-time in scoring with 1,307 points.
Sophomore guard Morgan Calabrese is netting 9.8 points per game this season, and she has contributed 99 rebounds, 45 assists, 39 steals and 30 three-pointers while junior guard Emily MacDonnell leads the Hounds with 80 assists and 31 three-pointers to go along with an average of 7.0 points per game, 52 rebounds and 30 steals. Freshman forward Trista Cunningham is averaging 6.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per contest in her debut season with 11 steals while junior guard Samantha Caligiuri has contributed 85 points, 29 steals, 23 rebounds and 19 assists since joining the squad in January.
Freshman guard Taylor Freeman has 99 points, 45 rebounds and 17 steals in her first season in Bethlehem while junior guard Marie Rossignoli has 87 points, 58 rebounds and 10 steals. Moravian has also received contributions this winter from junior forward Karlee Corvasce, sophomore guards Molly Calabrese, Tristen Hamilton, Courtney Kruscavage and Cori Weiss, and freshmen forward Jen Cella and guard Victoria McCaslin.
The Pacers of Marywood enter the ECAC South Quarterfinals with a 16-10 record this season under the direction of 11th year head coach Tara Macciocco. Marywood was 11-5 in the Colonial States Athletic Conference regular season this winter, and the squad reached the first round of the CSAC Tournament. The Pacers are making their fourth appearance in the ECAC Tournament.
