The Moravian College women's basketball team defeated Albany College of Pharmacy 68-46 in the championship game of the 11th Annual Starters Moravian Winter Classic. This will be the Greyhounds seventh title in 11 years. Freshman forward Alexis Wright for Moravian was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player tallying a double-double off of 16 points and 14 boards to go with her four blocks and three steals.
Moravian got on the board first with a jumper from Wright. Freshman guard Michelle Staiger would answer with two jumpers of her own to give the Panthers an early 4-2 lead. The Greyhounds would then go on a 14-1 run with points scored by Wright, junior guard Amanda Kreuder, senior guard Hilary Murray and sophomore guard Alyssa Hann, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, to take a 18-6 lead with 11:20 to go in the half.
Senior forward Katie McCormack would end Moravian's scoring run with a basket of her own to make the score 18-8, but sophomore guard Laura Casey responded with an easy layup for a 20-8 lead with 10:20 remaining in the half. After exchanging baskets back-and-forth for the next eight minutes, senior guard Alex Oaks would cut Moravian's lead to single digits at 27-18 with just over two minutes remaining in the half. The Greyhounds would get their double-digit lead back and take a 29-19 lead into halftime.
Moravian held a slight advantage is shooting percentage at the half, shooting 30.6 while Albany shot 29.2 percent. The Panthers held the edge in rebounding at 24 to 22 for the Greyhounds. Wright led Moravian at halftime with eight boards and six points while Staiger was Albany's top performer with nine points and two rebounds.
Wright started the scoring in the second half for the Greyhounds with two made free throws to make the score 31-19 just 30 seconds in. Senior forward Alyson Johnson, who was an All-Tournament selection, answered back a minute later with a deep jumper to bring the Panthers back within ten points of the lead. Hann responded with a quick layup to push Moravian's lead back to 12 with less than 18 minutes remaining.
Wright would then hit a jumper from the foul line to make the score 37-23 with 16:39 remaining in the game. With a steal from Hann and a quick pass to senior forward Alexandra Blair, who earned an All-Tournament selection, the Greyhounds would push their lead to 16 points with 16:28 to go in the half. With 14:20 left on the clock Kreuder would drive to the net and make the basket while drawing the and one. She would convert to give Moravian at 42-25 lead.
Johnson would hit a deep with 12:57 remaining to cut Albany's deficit to 42-29. That would be as close as the Panthers would get as Moravian kept extending its lead while going onto win 68-46.
Hann finished the game with 14 points, four steals and four assists while Blair had 12 points and six rebounds. Kreuder finished with seven points and four boards while Murray racked up seven assists to go with five rebounds.
Johnson had nine points and four boards for Albany while freshman forward Taylor Sullivan had seven rebounds and five points. Staiger also had nine points to go with her three assists while sophomore guard Alex Schooley had seven points and four steals.
Moravian shot 37.3 percent from the field while the Panthers shot 33.9 percent. The Greyhounds out rebounded its opponent 51 to 46.
Freshman forward Shannon Barlow from Delaware Valley College and senior forward Chantal Biscette of Medgar Evers College also made the All-Tournament Team.
Moravian returns to action Friday, January 6th as they host conference foe The Catholic University of America. The contest is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Johnston Hall.