BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Moravian College women's basketball team defeated Landmark Conference foe The United States Merchant Marine Academy, 74-51, Saturday afternoon. The Greyhounds 8-0 start this winter matches the best start in school-history set back during the 1991-92 campaign.

Sophomore forward Alexis Wright led the way with her sixth double-double of the season off of 16 points and 12 rebounds to go with her three blocks. Junior guard Katie O'Rourke finished with 14 points while senior guard Amanda Kreuder added six points, four steals and three boards. Freshman forward Alesha Marcks put up nine points and seven rebounds while classmate guard Karine Polgar added six points, three rebounds and two blocks.

Freshman guard Emily MacDonnell scored six points while junior guard Danielle Brogan had five points and two blocks. Junior forward Laura Jordan finished with four boards and three points while junior forward Ericka Blair brought down nine rebounds to go with her four assists.

Kreuder tallied the first points of the game after driving to the hole while drawing the foul. She converted the free throw to give the Hounds a 3-0 lead. Wright extended Moravian's lead to 7-0 after an easy layup. A nice bounce pass from Wright gave Jordan an uncontested layup for the 9-0 lead three minutes in.

Junior forwad Kristina Walz ended the Greyhounds run with a layup, but Wright answered with a layup of her own to make the score 12-2 four minutes in. A deep jumper from Kreuder made the score 15-5 seven minutes into the contest. MacDonnell and Brogan went back-to-back from three-point land to put Moravian up 23-5 with 11 minutes to play in the first half. A blocked shot from Wright would lead to a breakaway layup from Brogan to make the score 25-5.

Sophomore forward Rebecca Resor ended the Greyhounds run with a turnaround layup to make the score 25-7 with nine minutes to play. O'Rourke responded with a layup of her own to make the score 27-7. Marcks made the score 31-7 after a layup with eight minutes remaining. Two minutes later Marcks added another layup off the dish from Polgar to make the score 37-7.

The Mariners then went on a 6-0 run with points from sophomore guard Demi VanDerWal and senior guard Tamara Kaileh to make the score 38-15, Greyhounds with three minutes to play. Moravian would take a 44-19 lead into halftime.

The Greyhounds shot 39-percent from the field while USMMA shot 19-percent form the field in the first half. Moravian held the rebounding edge at 34-21 while committing four less turnovers. Wright led Moravian at the half with ten points, nine rebounds and two blocks while Kaileh led Merchant Marine with six points and three boards.

Wright tallied the first points of the second half after a steal from Kreuder. A steal and layup from O'Rourke made the score 50-21 two minutes into the half. Free throws from freshman guard Marlee Chovich, and a layup from senior guard Roshenda Jospehs made the score 52-29, Hounds, four minutes into the half. A layup and a free throw from Kaileh cut the Greyhounds lead 52-32 five minutes into the second half.

A rainbow three from MacDonnell put Moravian up 57-34 with 11:32 left in the contest. A coast-to-coast layup from O'Rourke made the score 59-34 with 10:46 to play. Josephs answered with a steal and a layup of her own to make the score 59-36. A jumper from Josephs and a layup from Kaileh brought the Mariners within 19 points at 59-40 with eight minutes to play. USMMA wouldn't get any closer than that as the Greyhounds went onto win 74-51.

Kaileh led the way for the Mariners with 17 points and seven rebounds. Josephs added seven points, seven boards and five steals while Chovich scored seven points.

Moravian shot 37-percent from the field while USMMA shot 26-percent from the field. The Greyhounds held the rebounding advantage at 58-42. Moravian took advantage of its deep bench as 30 of the teams 74 points were scored off the bench.

The Greyhounds return to the court on Sunday, December 16th as they travel to rival Muhlenberg College for the Matte Award Game. The contest is scheduled for 2 p.m.