By Maddy Lanning, Staff Writer
Despite a career-high 25 points from junior guard Erin McQuillen, the Susquehanna women’s basketball team took a hard hit against conference opponent Moravian on Wednesday, Jan. 25, falling 86-71 on the road in Bethlehem, Pa.
Moravian had control of the game for the first 10 minutes, sinking 10-of-16 shots from the field and scoring 12 points off of eight Susquehanna turnovers.
The Greyhounds kept this momentum for most of the first period and left the River Hawks down 17 points heading into the second period. In the second period, the Greyhounds stretched their lead to 41-21 before heading in for halftime.
Susquehanna was able to hang onto the ball more in this period, scoring eight points off of six Moravian mistakes.
Moravian’s Maddie Capuano, the Landmark Conference leading scorer, had surpassed her average point percentage and was leading all scorers with 22 points in the first half. After halftime, Moravian extended their lead to 28, putting them ahead 55-27 with four minutes to go in the third.
McQuillen gave Susquehanna a bit of momentum, however, as she picked up nine points on a run and went 4-for-4 from the foul line. During the River Hawk run, Moravian had multiple turnovers, missing a few shots from the field and missing all their free throws, allowing Susquehanna to pick up the pace.
McQuillen went on another run in the fourth quarter, leading to her career-high of 25 points by the end of the game.
“We really just need to work on containing the ball,” McQuillen said.
Although the team came up short against Moravian, Susquehanna followed that game up by breaking their four-game losing streak when they beat Goucher 60-52 on Saturday, Feb. 1 in Baltimore, Md.
This game bumped Susquehanna into fourth place in the Landmark Conference, where they are now tied with Drew and Moravian.
The River Hawks opened up by gaining a quick lead against Goucher led by sophomore guard/forward Amalia Esposito, who had nine points and four rebounds. Goucher soon took over, tying the game up three times and out-scoring the River Hawks to obtain a 30-28 lead
Going into halftime Esposito led the River Hawks with nine points and eight rebounds.
“Getting to the boards during games like this is super important,” Esposito said.
In the third period, the Gophers pulled ahead, though sophomore guard Sadie Comfort aided in a 9-5 run that helped the River Hawks take back the lead. This lead would stick for the remainder of the game, as Susquehanna jumped ahead by 10 in the final quarter.
Junior guard Nevin Hoenninger sealed the River Hawk win with a three with just seconds left in the game.
The River Hawks will next take on Elizabethtown at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8 in Selinsgrove, Pa.
