Thursday, February 23, 2006

MORAVIAN TRAVELS TO MESSIAH FOR COMMONWEALTH CONFERENCE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

BETHLEHEM, PA --- The Moravian College women’s basketball team will make its fourth straight appearance in the Commonwealth Conference Championship game as the second seeded Greyhounds travel to top seeded Messiah College for the 2006 Commonwealth Conference Championship on Saturday, February 25th at 3:00 p.m. in Grantham.

Moravian advanced to the championship game with a79-73 victory over third-seeded Widener University in one of Wednesday night’s semifinal games while the Falcons defeated fourth seeded Susquehanna University, 56-37. Each team won on their home floor during the regular season with the Greyhounds winning in Bethlehem, 67-63 on January 28th and Messiah winning in Grantham, 69-55, on February 11th.

The winner of the championship game will receive the Commonwealth Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament while the other school will have to wait until Sunday night to see if it receives one of the 21 Pool C/at-large bids to the 63-team tournament. The teams selected will be announced Sunday night at www.ncaasports.com and www.D3hoops.com while the pairings will be announced on Monday morning.

The Greyhounds, who have an overall record of 21-5 and were 11-3 in the Commonwealth Conference regular season, have competed in the championship the last three years, falling to Messiah in Bethlehem, 57-52, a year ago, losing to Widener in Johnston Hall, 71-68, two years ago and falling at Messiah, 73-52, in 2002-03. Moravian is ranked 24th in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll and received votes in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Top 25 Poll.

Moravian head coach Mary Beth Spirk has the Greyhounds in the playoffs for the 16th time in her 19 years as head coach. Spirk, who has an overall record of 353-164, has guided the Greyhounds to their 11th 20-win in her 19 years, and the squad is looking for the program’s first conference title since 1991-92.

Leading the way on the court for the Greyhounds has been junior forward Kelly Applegate (Easton, PA/Wilson HS). Applegate, who was named the Commonwealth Conference Player of the Year on Tuesday and to the Commonwealth All-Conference First Team, the Lehigh Valley Small College Basketball December Team of the Month, the Women's DIII News December Player of the Month, the Lehigh Valley Small College Basketball Team of the Year and the Lehigh Valley Small College Women's Basketball Player of the Year, leads Moravian at 19.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game while shooting 56.7 percent (177 of 312) from the floor. Applegate, who is ranked in the top 25 nationally in field goal percentage, has also added 35 assists, 37 steals and 24 blocked shots. Applegate became the 17th player in Moravian history to score 1,000 career points in the final regular season game and now has 1,039 points in her career.

Senior forward Stephanie Seaman (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS), who earned a spot on the Commonwealth All-Conference Second Team, became the 16th player in Moravian history to surpass the 1,000-point plateau, and she is currently ninth all-time with 1,215 points. Seaman, who is also third all-time with 778 career rebounds, is contributing 13.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Seaman also has 44 assists, 55 steals, 18 three-pointers and 15 blocked shots.

Junior forward Jenny Hackleman (Solvang, CA/Rutgers Prep {NJ} HS), who has become the 13th Greyhounds with at least 500 career rebounds with a career total of 577 which is seventh all-time, has averages of 10.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest to go with 48 assists, 44 steals and 30 blocked shots while junior guard Katie Rizman (Wall, NJ/St. Rose HS) is scoring 6.1 points per game. Rizman has also contributed 56 rebounds, a team high 57 assists, 18 three-pointers, 38 steals and seven blocked shots. Sophomore guard Sara Steinman (Springfield, NJ/Jonathan Dayton HS) leads Moravian with 22 three-pointers while scoring 4.7 points per contest. Steinman also has 54 assists, 33 rebounds and 29 steals.

Senior forward Lindsay Brase (Bethlehem, PA/Notre Dame HS), who will miss the rest of the season with an injury, is tossing in 5.5 points per outing with 71 rebounds, 23 steals, 22 assists, 12 three-pointers and four blocked shots while junior guard Rachel Berlin (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom HS) is scoring 4.6 points per contest this season with 62 rebounds, 21 assists, 34 steals, five blocked shots and six three-pointers. Freshman forward Rachelle Elneus (Easton, PA/Notre Dame HS) has added 56 points, 32 rebounds, five assists and five steals while senior guard Nicole Savino (Macungie, PA/Brandywine Heights HS) has added 43 points, 31 rebounds, 14 assists, 20 steals and nine blocked shots this season for Moravian.

Senior forward Heather MacDonald (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley HS), who earned a spot on the Lehigh Valley Small College Basketball January Scholar-Athlete Team of the Month, has tossed in 41 points and added 33 rebounds, five assists and a pair of blocked shots while sophomore guard LaToya Blake (Allentown, PA/Dieruff HS) has contributed 47 points, 56 rebounds, a team high 61 steals, 34 assists and two blocked shots. Junior guard Kristina Adams (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery HS) has contributed 12 points, five assists, three rebounds and four steals while sophomore guard Megan Kocon (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS) has added 21 points, two steals, two assists and a rebound.

Senior guard Dianna DeFiore (Hammonton, NJ/St. Joseph HS) has 13 points, 14 rebounds, nine assists and three steals this winter while sophomore guard Tina Moll (Kintersville, PA/Palisades HS) tossed in three points to go with three rebounds and two assists before an injury ended her season. Freshman forward Cody Fedorishen (Nazareth, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS) has 15 rebounds, 11 points and two blocked shots off the bench while freshman guard Lindsey Williams (Kingston, PA/Bishop O’Reilly HS) has scored two points.

Messiah is currently ranked ninth in the nation in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll and 12th in this week’s USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Top 25 Poll. The Falcons, under the direction of 20-year head coach Mike Miller, are 24-2 on the season and were 13-1 in Commonwealth Conference action during the regular season.

Senior guard/forward Eli Cook leads Messiah in scoring and rebounding with averages of 15.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Cook, who was named the Commonwealth All-Conference First Team, also has team highs of 43 blocked shots, 90 steals and 76 assists while contributing 14 three-pointers. Junior forward Sarah Ringer, who was also on the Commonwealth All-Conference First Team, has averages of 23.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game to go along with 60 assists, 35 steals, six blocked shots and six three-pointers.

Sophomore guard Nicki Lobach is tossing in 13.3 points per outing, and she has added 37 rebounds, 44 assists, 26 steals, seven three-pointers and six blocked shots while sophomore guard Lauren Schurr is contributing 8.8 points per game to go with a team high 62 three-pointers, 43 rebounds, 38 assists, 21 steals and seven blocked shots. Freshman forward Ashley Brooks is scoring 6.7 points per game, and she has added 97 rebounds, 21 steals, 14 blocked shots and 13 assists while sophomore guard Amy Reed has an average of 6.1 points per contest to go with 75 assists, 60 rebounds, 39 steals, 15 three-pointers and 13 blocked shots.

Freshman guard Christa Wenrich has added 104 points, 39 rebounds, 32 assists and 12 steals while sophomore forward Gwen Avery has contributed 88 points, 88 rebounds, 24 steals, 25 assists and 23 blocked shots. Freshman guard Katie Kalb has 54 points, 22 rebounds, 14 assists and 13 steals in her debut season.