Monday, February 18, 2002

GREYHOUND WOMEN HEADED TO COMMONWEALTH PLAYOFFS

BETHLEHEM, PA --- For the first time since the 1997-98 season, the Moravian College women's basketball team is headed to the postseason as the Greyhounds are the third seed in the four-team Commonwealth Conference Playoffs that begin on Wednesday, February 20th.  Moravian(16-9 overall, 10-4 Commonwealth Conference)  will travel to second seeded Messiah College (21-3, 12-2) in Grantham, PA, for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off while top-seed Lebanon Valley College (22-3, 13-1) hosts fourth seeded Juniata College (12-13, 8-6).

Lebanon Valley upset Messiah at Grantham to earn the top seed.  The only team to defeat the Flying Dutchwomen during the Commonwealth Conference regular season was Moravian back on December 8th.

Moravian lost both regular season games to Messiah this season, falling 68-61 at home on January 12th and losing 97-73 at Messiah on February 2nd.  The Falcons lead the all-time series 12-6 and have won the last six meetings between the two schools.  This will be the first time Moravian has played Messiah in the postseason and the Greyhounds are just 1-8 when traveling to Grantham with the victory coming in overtime back in 1994.

Moravian head coach Mary Beth Spirk, who has a career record of 269-134, is no stranger to the postseason, having led the Greyhounds to 12 MAC and Commonwealth Conference playoff berths in 15 seasons as well as four NCAA Division III Tournament bids and the national championship game in 1992.

Leading Moravian on the court this season by junior guard Tara Wozniak (Roseland, NJ/West Essex Regional HS).  Wozniak tops the Moravian squad with a scoring average of 14.5 points per game and she is third on the team in rebounding at 5.8 rebounds per contest.  Wozniak also leads the team with 55 assists, 47 steals and 46 three-pointers.  She enters the playoffs needing just 19 points to become the 13^th player in Moravian history to score 1,000 points in a career.

Junior forward Kelly McLean (Allentown, PA/Salisbury HS) is second on the squad in scoring at 11.7 points per game and she tops the squad in rebounding with 7.8 rebounds per contest.  McLean, who has had six double-doubles this season, leads the Greyhounds with 27 blocked shots and she has added 26 assists and 39 steals.  McLean currently has 560 career rebounds, the sixth highest total in Moravian history.

The Greyhounds will likely play without third leading scorer, sophomore guard Kim Hughes (Manasquan, NJ/St. Rose HS), who missed Moravian's final regular season game due to illness and is expected to missed the next week.  Hughes is scoring 11.0 points per game with 87 rebounds, 38 assists, 43 steals and 31 three-pointers.

Sophomore reserve forward Tracie Shipman (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan HS) is contributing 7.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per game off the bench this season to go along with 17 assists and 28 steals.  Junior guard/forward Kristen Sarnocinski (Harleysville, PA/Germantown Academy HS) is netting 7.1 points per contest and grabbing 3.8 rebounds per game while adding 24 three-pointers, 42 assists and 27 steals.

Freshman guard Jen Behagg (Hamburg, NJ/Pope John XXIII HS) runs the Moravian offense on the court and she is scoring 3.7 points per game.  Behagg has also contributed 61 rebounds, 48 assists and 29 steals.

For Messiah, junior forward Christina Vouriotis is leading the team with a scoring average of 13.3 points per game.  Vouriotis also leads the Falcons in rebounding at 8.1 rebounds per contest, 66 assists and 56 steals while adding 13 blocked shots and ten three-pointers.  Junior guard Amie Kretzing is the only other Messiah player scoring in double figures at 12.7 points per contest.  Kretzing has added 76 rebounds, 33 three-pointers, 35 assists and 36 steals.

Senior guard Melissa Ehst is netting 9.5 points per game with 76 rebounds, 34 three-pointers, 29 assists and 32 rebounds while senior forward Jess Mulberger leads the Falcons with 24 blocked shits to go along with averages of 7.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.  Mulberger has also contributed 64 assists and 33 steals.  Freshman guard Kristin Sassaman is netting 4.9 points per game with 45 rebounds, 20 assists and 24 steals while senior guard Erin Wedemeyer has an average of 4.8 points per game to go with 55 assists and 14 three-pointers.