No. 14 Greyhounds Survive Scare from Gophers
TOWSON, Md. – Goucher had an opportunity in the closing seconds this evening to hand nationally ranked Moravian only its third loss – but second in a span of 24 hours – of the season.
No. 14 Greyhounds Survive Scare from Gophers
Four of Goucher's Five Starters Score in Double Figures
January 17, 2009
TOWSON, Md. – Goucher had an opportunity in the closing
seconds this evening to hand nationally ranked Moravian only its
third loss – but second in a span of 24 hours – of the
season.
The Gophers trailed by only a point following a lay-up by Elizabeth von Ende (Leawood, Kans./American Hebrew Academy) with :27 remaining and they regained possession of the ball thanks to a Moravian turnover. They worked for a good shot, but the one they launched that would have put them ahead with :05 left to play was off the mark, and they were forced to foul when the Greyhounds grabbed the rebound.
The two free throws that Alexandra Blair hit with :02 showing on the clock closed out the scoring in Moravian's 69-66 Landmark Conference victory over head coach Didi Cotton's Gophers.
The Gophers (5-9, 1-4 Landmark) seemingly had Moravian, which is ranked No. 14 in the latest USA Today/ESPN Division III Coaches' Top 25 Poll, on the ropes when they opened up a 24-13 advantage on a lay-up by Leia Roberts-Brown (Capitol Heights, Md./Archbishop Carroll) with 6:15 remaining in the first half. But by halftime, the Greyhounds (14-2, 4-1), who were coming off 66-61 loss to Catholic, had battled back to within 29-26.
After an 8-for-35 shooting performance (.229) in the opening period, the Greyhounds heated up in the second half, making 16 of their 38 attempts from the field (.421). But so did the Gophers, who were 12-for-29 from the field (.414) in the first 20:00 and 15-for-30 (.500) the rest of the way.
Moravian went ahead to stay on a lay-up by Alyson Steltz that made the score 48-46 with 12:07 left to play and the Greyhounds would eventually stretch their lead to 59-48 on a three-pointer by Hilary Murray with only 7:57 remaining. But the Gophers responded with points on nine of their next dozen possessions to trail 65-64 with 1:07 showing on the clock.
Four of Goucher's five starters turned in double-figure scoring performances: Roberts-Brown finished with 16 points, Amber Smith (Baltimore, Md./Institute of Notre Dame) scored 15 points and missed a double-double by one rebound, von Ende ended up with 13 points and eight rebounds and Kelsey Myette (Binghamton, N.Y./Seton Catholic Central) supplied the Gophers with 10 points.
Alyssa Bisci captured scoring honors for Moravian with 15 points.