Top 10 Stories of 2015-16 - #3 Women's Basketball Ends Season in NCAA Tournament
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College is looking back at the 2015-16 athletic campaign with the No. 3 story in Top 10 Stories – the women’s basketball squad earning an at-large berth to the 2016 NCAA Division III Tournament and posting an opening round victory.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College is looking back at the 2015-16 athletic campaign with the No. 3 story in Top 10 Stories – the women's basketball squad earning an at-large berth to the 2016 NCAA Division III Tournament and posting an opening round victory.
The Greyhounds were rewarded for their 19-7 season with a Pool C/at-large berth in the tournament, one of 20 at-large berths into the 64-team tournament. For Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk, it was her ninth trip to the NCAA Tournament in 29 years leading the Hounds, and that resume includes a berth in the National Championship game in 1992 and trips to the Sweet Sixteen in 1991 and 1993
"I was most happy for the players," Spirk said. "Getting the at large bid was special. It was exciting and rewarding to know all their hard work paid off. The win was just as special, if not more so, since the drought between victories was so long. I felt the presence of all the players that had been there before us and lost in that situation celebrate with us."
Moravian was sent to Biddeford, Maine for the NCAA Tournament with an opening round game versus No. 15 The University of New England. In front of a raucous crowd of over 1,000, the Hounds ended up winning their 20th game of the season with a 70-60 victory over the Nor'easters. The win was also the first in the NCAA Tournament for the Greyhounds since the 1993 Sweet Sixteen squad.
"The thing I will remember the most about traveling to Maine is beating the University of New England on their home court with only about 10 Moravian fans that were there and the rest UNE's students and family," stated senior forward Alesha Marcks. "I have never played in such an environment where you couldn't hear anything but the crowd yelling and cheering on the other team, until we shut them down early in the game. The energy that the team and coaches had before and after the game was the best experience I have had in my career, getting pumped up before the game and then celebrating the win in the locker room was the best feeling."
Unfortunately for Moravian, the season ended with a 20-8 overall record the following night as the Hounds fell to No. 7 Tufts University, 65-45, as the Jumbos put together a run that had them playing for the national title three weeks later.
Moravian's season began with a tough 77-74 loss to rival Muhlenberg College on the opening night of the campaign. The Hounds had an early 10-point lead before falling behind by 18 points. The Mules also made the NCAA Tournament in March and were knocked out in the second round.
The Blue and Grey bounced back from the loss to put together a nine-game winning streak. The Hounds earned their first win of the season with a 76-53 victory over The College of New Jersey before a 40-point win versus Immaculata University. Moravian then won its first five road games of the year. The Greyhounds knocked off NCAA Tournament qualifier Cabrini College, 80-53, at the Stockton University Tip-Off Tournament before a 71-43 victory over the host Ospreys, who were in the NCAA Tournament.
Moravian earned an 81-74 win at DeSales University to head into Thanksgiving break with a 5-1 record. The Hounds followed up with a 65-58 win at No. 12 Montclair State University, another NCAA Tournament team, before opening the Landmark Conference season with an 84-64 win at Goucher College.
"I think for me it was the start of our season, where I purposely loaded it with some quality teams," Spirk explained when asked about when she noticed something special about her team. "We played a lot of games early on against tough opponents in a short amount of time. The team came together and it was not just from one or two people. Each game someone new stepped up to play well and/or give us a lift when we needed it. Two road games that stick out to me were the DeSales game, when we came back from a huge deficit at halftime and the Montclair game, when we competed and beat a perennial national caliber team. Those two games made me believe we had something special happening."
Moravian returned home for another conference victory over the Catholic University of America before a 79-37 non-conference win over Wilkes University to reach 9-1.
The Hounds finished the first semester of action with a seven-point loss to No. 25 Albright College, another team that reached the NCAA Tournament in March. When the squad returned from 21 days off, Moravian earned a 95-90 overtime win at Susquehanna to start a four-game Landmark Conference winning streak that included an 11-point win at Drew University, a 10-point victory over Elizabethtown College and a 24-point triumph versus Goucher.
Moravian's third setback of the year would come at the hands of another NCAA Tournament team, No. 6 the University of Scranton, as the Hounds fell by 11 points on the road. The Greyhounds bounced back with a five-point win at Juniata College and a 14-point victory at the United States Merchant Marine Academy.
The Blue and Grey would lose back-to-back games for the only time in 2015-16 in their next two contests, an 85-80 loss at Catholic and a 70-65 overtime setback to Scranton in Johnston Hall. Moravian would top Susquehanna by 13 points in the Greyhounds' annual Play 4Kay game, and the squad added a 73-49 win over Drew.
Moravian ended up falling to Elizabethtown by six points in its final road game of the season before posting wins over USMMA and Juniata to finish the regular season at 19-6.
The Hounds earned the second seed in the 2016 Landmark Conference Tournament as the program made an appearance in the postseason for the 15th consecutive year, and hosted Catholic in the semifinals; however, the Greyhounds ended up on the short end of an 84-77 overtime game in Johnston Hall.
Not knowing what to expect on Selection Monday, which fell on February 29, Coach Spirk and a small group of players convened in her office to watch the NCAA Selection Show online. The Greyhounds would receive the at-large berth and head to Maine two days later.
"Reaching the NCAA tournament for the second time of my career meant everything to me and my team," Marcks explained. "It was our goal every year to win a conference championship and make it to the NCAA tournament, doing this for the second time and not even thinking that we would make it. Especially it being my senior year and having one last shot at it with my team and coaches made it that much important to me and bitter sweet at the same time."
Coach Spirk and the Greyhounds had seven players that completed their careers in the NCAA Tournament including Marcks, graduate student forward Alexis Wright and seniors guard Karine Polgar, guard Samantha Caligiuri, guard Emily MacDonnell, guard Marie Rossignoli and forward Karlee Corvasce. It was the second NCAA Tournament for most of the group but Wright missed the 2014 NCAA Tournament with an injury while Polgar and Caligiuri were not part of the program that season.
"Through my entire career playing with core players has been a great experience, from building friendships that will last a lifetime and learning the game from them," Marcks noted. "The thing I will remember the most is learning the Moravian Women's Basketball program and what it really means to play for Moravian and Coach Spirk."
Spirk, who led this group to a 77-35 mark over the last four seasons including 12 postseason contests, had some parting thoughts for the Hounds as they embark on the future.
"This group of seniors persevered through many different things over the course of four years (five for Alexis)," stated Spirk. "They stuck together through it all, supported each other and figured out that to achieve success you had to put the we in front of the me. The group brought many personalities to the table and figured out a way to mesh them all together for the good of the team.
"Obviously talent plays a role in achieving success, and they all had talent, but what they really had was the desire to enjoy the process...lifting, running, a.m. practices, long bus trips, the long grind of the season. They embraced this process and their enthusiasm for the game itself took over our team. They were a great group who I will miss tremendously, on and off the court," finished Spirk.
You can read the original story on the at-large berth at http://moraviansports.com/sports/wbkb/2015-16/releases/20160229n49ef3.
You can read the Top 10 Exciting Games of 2015-16 story on the first round win at http://moraviansports.com/sports/wbkb/2016-17/releases/20160722ebbcqo.
Story number two of the countdown will be released on Tuesday, August 16.
