CUA's comeback bid falls just short vs. Greyhounds

WASHINGTON – The Cardinals suffered a tough 74-70 setback to Moravian on Saturday afternoon at home as CUA dropped its second straight game.  The Cardinals trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half, before closing to within one in the final two minutes, but that was as close as they would get, as they fall to 12-6 overall and 4-3 in the Landmark Conference.

With the win Moravian ups its record to 11-6 overall and 6-1 vs. Landmark foes.

A Caitlin Hrebik jumper with 11:04 to go in the game put Moravian ahead 60-45 and it looked as though the Greyhounds might run away with this one.  But CUA had other ideas, as the Cardinals slowly chipped away at the deficit, closing to within eight on Jill Woerner’s layup with 6:13 on the clock.

Another Woerner layup, this one with 4:13 to play, again made it an eight-point game, and Jenny McGann then came up with a steal and basket to pull the Cardinals within six points.

McGann’s free throw followed by Kerri Confrey’s steal and layup made it just a three-point game with 2:11 to go and brought the DuFour Center crowd to life.  On the Cardinals next possession Emily Grabiak banked in a jumper to make it a 67-66 game with 1:29 remaining, setting up an exciting finish.

Moravian’s Alexandra Blair was then fouled and sank two free throws to push the Greyhounds lead to three, and following a CUA miss, Amy Heffner sank one-of-two at the line to make it a 70-66 game.

Grabiak was fouled on CUA’s next possession and sank both of her charity stripers to bring the Cardinals within 70-68 and after an intentional foul by CUA, Moravian’s Hillary Murray headed to the line.  She sank her two attempts to make it a four-point game, and following a missed shot by CUA, Murray was again fouled. 

Following two more makes by Murray Moravian went in front 74-68, with a Woerner jumper just before the buzzer setting the final margin at four points.

Jenny McGann led CUA with 13 points, while Woerner added 10, and Grabiak (12) and Liz Briones (10) were the team leaders in rebounds.  Confrey scored nine points and handed out eight helpers and as a team the Cardinals dished out 20 assists on 27 field goals.  CUA was ultimately done in by Moravian’s performance at the foul line as the Greyhounds hit 31 of 37 attempts.

Four Greyhounds scored in double digits, including Emily Smith with 18, Heffner with 15, Blair with 12 and Murray with 11.  Moravian registered 12 steals on the day, but struggled with its shooting, hitting only 32 percent from the field, including a 1 of 10 showing from downtown.

After a tightly contested 13 opening minutes of the game, Moravian opened up a 10-point lead with 6:45 to play before halftime.  The Greyhounds were then able to maintain that advantage as they took a 39-29 lead into intermission.

Overall, the opening 20 minutes featured eight ties and four lead changes.

Next weekend CUA remains at home as it will welcome Susquehanna to the DuFour Center on Friday evening for another Landmark Conference game.  Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.