Women’s Basketball Defeats Moravian, Advances in Landmark Conference Tournament

Image courtesy of Susie Blanchard and Catholic Athletics.

By Griffin Cappiello

Catholic University Women’s Basketball opened their postseason campaign in a convincing fashion, picking up a win against fifth-seed Moravian in the First Round of the Landmark Conference Tournament. 

The fourth-seeded Cardinals started the game strong. Senior guard Anna Scoblick won the tipoff and drove down the court to score the opening basket. The Cards went on a 7-0 run to start the game after Scoblick put up another layup and sophomore forward Lauren Kraft scored a three-pointer. 

Catholic remained in control for most of the first quarter; Moravian only took a 13-11 lead with 3:30 left on the clock. Sophomore guard McKenna Karlson got a steal and ran down the court to score a layup to tie the game at 13. The Cards put up a strong defensive effort to end the half, with sophomore guard Carly Catania and Kraft each swatting away a shot by the Greyhounds. Catania also got a steal off a full-court press and scored a layup, and Moravian threw up a deep airball to end the quarter. The score remained tied at 15 apiece. 

After the break, Moravian opened the second quarter by scoring two free throws, and senior guard Amelia Kennedy responded by scoring a free throw of her own. After some back-and-forth fouls, stuffs, and steals, junior guard Molly McLaughlin banked a big three, but Moravian hit back with a deep two to extend the Greyhound lead to 6, and Catholic coach Matt Donohue called a timeout with five minutes left in the half. 

Coming out of the timeout, the Cards went on another 7-point run, with Karlson opening the scoring with a nice jumper. Sophomore guard Lia Villa added points, and Kennedy was fouled as she scored a layup and sank the ensuing free throw. With three minutes left on the clock, Karlson scored to take a 30-29 lead. Catania got another steal and was fouled hard as she went up for a layup, nearly falling on top of one of the photographers sitting under the basket. She only made one of her free throws, and Moravian tied the game at 31 on the other end of the court.

McKenna Karlson put up an incredible performance to see out the half, scoring a basket to take the lead with 1:50 left on the clock. After Moravian responded with another basket, Kraft swatted away an attempted shot, and Karlson was fouled on the rebound. The Cards were in the bonus, and Karlson scored a free throw to start a solo 5-point run. Catholic went into the locker room up 38-33 after scoring 23 points in the second quarter, 11 of which belonged to Karlson. 

After a halftime performance by the Catholic University Dance Team to Eminem’s “Without Me,” the teams took the court to begin the second half. Moravian scored a layup to begin the scoring, but one of their players went down with an ankle injury. Thankfully, she was able to get up and walk off the court on her own. McKenna Karlson scored two free throws to open the scoring for the Cardinals. 

The crowd really got into it early in the third quarter; athletic trainer Mike Pampuch was called into action to clean up a spill on the court and was greeted with some good-natured cheers from the other student-athletes in the crowd. The referees made a few calls that fans did not agree with, particularly the members of the men’s basketball team, who were more than happy to voice their displeasure. 

The Cardinal offense was on fire, as Kennedy added a pair of free throws and Scoblick scored a layup. Catania, McLaughlin, and senior guard Alexa Kenah each scored threes, and junior guard Sofia Travieso gave the Cards their first double-digit lead of the game. Catholic’s defensive showing was also impressive, grabbing 11 defensive rebounds and holding the Greyhounds to only 12 points. Going into the final quarter of play, the Cards were up 59-45. 

Travieso hit a jumper to open the fourth quarter, and Karlson and Scoblick added baskets of their own. The controversial calls continued as Catania was called for a charge, much to the disappointment of the men’s basketball team. Anna Scoblick picked up her fifth foul of the game on a particularly soft call, and cries of “Ball don’t lie!” rang out from the bleachers when the Greyhounds missed one of the ensuing free throws. 

Moravian put up a good effort, outscoring the Cards 20 to 17 in the final ten minutes of the game, but after one of the Greyhound players fouled out and Catholic added more pressure on both sides of the ball, they couldn’t complete the comeback. The Cardinals came away with a 76-65 victory and advanced to the Landmark Conference Semifinals. 

McKenna Karlson was certainly the player of the game, leading the team with a career-high 21 points, as well as 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Carly Catania also hit double-digit points, scoring 11 and recording 5 steals and 5 rebounds. 
The fourth-seeded Cardinals will face off against the first-seeded Scranton Royals this Thursday, February 26, in the Landmark Conference Semifinals. At the time of writing, this game has not yet been played.