Gophers Stage Determined Rally, Suffer 13-Point Setback

Smith, Myette Combine for 31 Points Against No. 10 Greyhounds

TOWSON, Md. — Twenty points down at the end of the first half wasn't where Goucher wanted to be this evening, especially since the opponent was nationally ranked Moravian. But the Gophers fought back in the second half and got as close as nine points on three separate occasions before the Greyhounds were able to secure a 71-58 Landmark Conference victory in the Decker Sports & Recreation Center.

The Greyhounds (21-2, 12-0 Landmark) didn't take kindly to the Gophers getting on the scoreboard first with a three-point field goal by Elizabeth von Ende (Leawood, Kan./American Hebrew Academy). In the 3:05 following von Ende's opening basket, Moravian went on a run of 14 consecutive points, turning the three-point deficit into an 11-point advantage.

By the end of the first half, Moravian's Alyssa Bisci had already scored 12 points and the Crusaders, one of two teams that shared the No. 10 spot in the USA Today ESPN Division III naitonal rankings, had a 40-20 lead.

The Gophers (6-17, 2-11 Landmark) wasted no time initiating their comeback in the early moments of the second half. They scored the first six points of the period, closing to within 40-26 on a layup by Kelsey Myette (Binghamton, N.Y./Seton Catholic Central).

Midway through the second half, the Gophers managed to get their deficit down into single digits for the first time since the game was less than six minutes old. A basket by Shante Atkinson (Millersville, Md./Old Mill) with 10:33 left to play made the score 50-41, Moravian.

The Gophers made it a nine-point game two more times: once on a layup by Leia Roberts-Brown (Capitol Heights, Md./Archbishop Carroll) with 8:45 remaining and the second time when Kiara Doughty (Salisbury, Md./Wicomico) converted a layup with 8:21 left to play.

Amber Smith (Baltimore, Md./Institute of Notre Dame) and Myette combined to score 23 of Goucher's 38 points in the second half. Smith finished with a game-high 16 points and Myette, after being held to two points in the opening 20:00, would up with 15.

Bisci and Kirsty Stearns shared scoring honors for Moravian with 14 points apiece.