7th SEEDED MORAVIAN HEADS TO READING FOR ECAC DIVISION III SOUTHERN SEMIFINALS MARCH 2ND

BETHLEHEM, PA --- The Moravian College women’s basketball team will make its making its fourth straight appearance in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III Southern Basketball Championships Semifinals as the seventh seeded Greyhounds travel to third seed Albright College on Friday, March 2nd for a 6:00 p.m. tip-off in Reading.

Albright will be hosting the rest of the tournament which has top seed King’s College facing off with fourth seed Washington & Jefferson College on Friday at 8:00 p.m. The semifinal winners will meet in the championship game on Saturday, March 3rd at 2:00 p.m. in Reading.

In Wednesday’s semifinals, Moravian defeated second seed Penn State Behrend, 72-56, Albright was a 98-73 winner over sixth seed Neumann College, King's defeated eighth seed Villa Julie College, 64-50, and Washington & Jefferson was a 69-57 winner over fifth seed Cabrini College.

The Greyhounds are 17-11 overall this season and are making their tenth appearance in the ECAC Tournament. Moravian won the ECAC Championship in 1987 and has an 8-8 all-time record in ECAC games. Moravian lost in the ECAC Southern Championship game in 2005 and the semifinals in 2003 and 2004. The Greyhounds fell in the Commonwealth Conference Championship game for the fifth straight season last Saturday, losing to Messiah College, 79-57.

Moravian head coach Mary Beth Spirk has the Greyhounds in the playoffs for the 17th time in her 20 years as head coach. Spirk, who has an overall record of 370-180, has the Greyhounds looking for the program’s first ECAC Southern Championship since 1987. Moravian has been the runner-up in the ECAC Southern Tournament five times.

Senior forward Kelly Applegate (Easton, PA/Wilson HS), who was named to the Commonwealth All-Conference Team for the second straight season, leads the Greyhounds in scoring with an average of 14.9 points per contest, and she is second at 6.6 rebounds per game. Applegate, who has moved into sixth all-time in points with 1,493 points and seventh all-time in rebounds with 683 rebounds for her career, also has 46 steals, 41 assists and ten blocked shots while shooting 81.5 percent (128-157) at the foul line. Applegate has broken the school record for free throws attempted with 597 and free throws made with 458.

Senior forward Jenny Hackleman (Arroyo Grande, CA/Rutgers Prep {NJ} HS), who earned a spot on the Commonwealth All-Conference Second Team, is averaging 11.9 points and a team leading average of 9.1 rebounds per contest despite missing the first five games of the year with an injury. Hackleman, who was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Starters Moravian Winter Classic, has moved into third in school history in career rebounds with a total of 794, and she is 12th in scoring with 1,140 points. Hackleman has also contributed 48 steals, a team high 32 blocked shots and 58 assists since returning to the lineup.

Freshman guard Jessica Foran (Annandale, NJ/Rutgers Prep HS) is scoring 9.1 points per game in her debut season, and Foran has added 92 rebounds, 46 steals, 43 assists and nine three-pointers, and she is shooting 84.8 percent (84-99), currently 30th in the nation, at the foul line. Both Applegate and Foran were named to the All-Tournament Team at the Mike Durgala Memorial Tournament at Johns Hopkins University to open the 2006-07 season.

Freshman forward Kirsty Stearns (East Norwich, NY/Oyster Bay HS) is averaging 9.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, and she has 12 blocked shots to go along with 22 steals and 20 assists. Freshman guard Kate Harrison (Cold Spring Harbor, NY/Cold Spring Harbor HS) has 47 steals this season, and she has added 89 rebounds, 46 assists, seven blocked shots and an average of 7.5 points per contest while freshman guard Amanda Brown (Schuylkill Haven, PA/Schuylkill Haven HS) has team highs of 43 three-pointers and 65 assists to go with 38 rebounds, 24 steals and an average of 6.5 points per game.

Freshman forward Alyssa Bisci (Easton, PA/Easton HS) is scoring 3.5 points per game and has added 69 rebounds, 16 assists and 11 steals while sophomore forward Cody Fedorishen (Nazareth, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS) has contributed 64 points, 63 rebounds, 14 assists, 11 steals and five blocked shots for the Greyhounds. Senior guard Katie Rizman (Wall, NJ/St. Rose HS) has added 71 points, 33 rebounds, 21 assists, 13 steals and ten three-pointers while junior guard La'Toya Blake (Allentown, PA/Dieruff HS) has netted 63 points while contributing a team high 69 steals to go with 40 assists and 53 rebounds.

Sophomore forward Rachelle Elneus (Easton, PA/Notre Dame HS) has 23 points, 11 rebounds and five steals while junior guard Megan Kocon (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS) has 15 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Senior guard Kristina Adams (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery HS) has 11 points, five rebounds and five steals while junior guard Tina Moll (Kintnersville, PA/Palisades HS) has added seven points and four rebounds. Freshman guard Alexis DiFazio (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park HS) has contributed eight points and three rebounds in limited action.

Albright enters the ECAC Southern Semifinals with an overall record of 18-9. The Lions were 10-4 in the Commonwealth Conference and fell to Moravian in the conference semifinals, 68-61. Albright, which defeated Moravian, 72-57 and 61-60 during the regular season, is making its first ECAC Tournament appearance.

Sophomore guard Annie McMahon, who was named to the Commonwealth All-Conference Second Team, leads Albright in scoring with an average of 12.5 points per game, and she is grabbing 4.7 rebounds per contest. McMahon also leads the Lions with 51 steals and 37 three-pointers to go with 38 assists and 26 blocked shots. Senior forward Jaqueline Hardwick, who was on the Commonwealth All-Conference First Team, has a team high average of 7.7 rebounds per game to go with a scoring average of 10.7 points per outing. Hardwick has added 29 assists, 19 steals and ten blocked shots.

Senior guard Marie Levins is contributing 8.6 points per game with 76 rebounds, a team high 85 assists, 35 steals and 14 three-pointers while senior guard Natalie Bizzaro has an average of 6.1 points per game to go with 84 assists, 80 rebounds, 34 steals and 11 blocked shots. Junior center Staci Waligorski is netting 6.0 points and grabbing 5.1 rebounds per contest with 13 assists, eight blocked shots and six steals while freshman guard/forward Mallory Olsheski has an average of 4.9 points per game to go with 71 rebounds, 16 assists, 16 three-pointers, 13 steals and 11 blocked shots.

Sophomore guard Charlotte Ciccone is scoring 5.0 points per contest for the Lions with 100 rebounds, 58 assists and 41 steals while sophomore forward Jen DuPrau in contributing 5.5 rebounds per game with 94 points, 21 assists and nine steals. Junior center Meredith Berger has blocked a team high 44 shots for Albright with an average of 5.4 rebounds per contest to go with 93 points, six steals and five assists.

King’s enters the semifinals with an overall record of 20-8, and the Monarchs posted a 10-4 mark in Freedom Conference action. King’s was knocked out of the Freedom Tournament in the championship with a 79-63 loss to the University of Scranton. The Monarchs are making their fourth trip to the ECAC South Championships and won the title in 1998. King’s will be unable to host any games due to its men’s team in the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament.

Washington & Jefferson, which lost to Westminster College 57-51 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference semifinals, enters the semifinals at 20-8 overall. The Presidents, who are making their third ECAC Tournament appearance and won the Southern title in 1994, were 10-2 in Presidents’ Athletic Conference action.