SELINSGROVE, PA (January 21, 2023) – The River Hawks women's basketball team took to their home court again on Saturday afternoon to face another key conference foe in Moravian University. Despite a close battle and some late-game heroics, Susquehanna would come up just short, falling 68-65 to the Greyhounds.
Neither team found much separation in the early minutes, as the two squads traded buckets in the opening quarter until late, when two made buckets in the last two minutes would give Moravian a 14-11 lead at the end of the frame. The River Hawks would respond with the first two buckets of the second quarter to reclaim the lead before Moravian hit a jumper to make the score 16-15 in their favor. Julia Pinckert and Kaitlyn Lynch would answer with a pair of jumpers to take a three-point advantage with 4:39 left in the half, but scoring would then go dry for SU for the next three minutes, with Moravian taking full advantage and jumping back in front. The Greyhounds would take a 29-22 scoreline into the locker room.
Susquehanna came back for the second half on a mission and did well to quickly erase the deficit. Olivia Brandt opened the half with a layup off a Pinckert assist before Kaitlyn Lynch hit a three-pointer a minute later, one of four that she made in the game. Kenzie Selvaggi finished off the run with a jumper off another Pinckert helper and the game was knotted at 29 each. From there, the teams again went back-and-forth looking for control of the momentum, tying again at 35-35 and 37-37 before two scores in the final thirty seconds from Julia Roth and Lynch would make the score 44-41 in SU's favor at the end of the quarter, the first time they'd end a quarter with the lead. They outscored the Greyhounds 22-12 in the frame and shot a game-high 60 percent from the floor.
The River Hawks would see their momentum stalled by foul calls in the early moments of the fourth quarter, with a hefty 12 fouls in the quarter and five called in just the first three minutes. The trips to the line would prove crucial for Moravian, as they would go 15 of 16 from the charity stripe in the quarter after going just three of five in the first three quarters combined. In contrast, SU would get no trips to the line in the fourth quarter after going six for eight in the first three quarters from the foul line. The game would reach another tie at the 3:09 mark with the score 56 apiece, but Moravian would score the next six points in a row, leaving the River Hawks down six with less than a minute remaining. From there, SU would begin a dramatic comeback effort, hitting three three-pointers in the final minute to keep the pressure on. Lynch would hit the first with 50 seconds left, making it 62-59. Moravian then turned the ball over to give SU a chance to tie, but Pinckert had a three-point shot miss off the rim. SU was then forced to foul, where Moravian would be clinical from the line, going two of two to make the lead five. Next it would be Selvaggi's turn to hit from deep, as she hit one with 25 seconds left to cut the deficit to two. Again, SU fouled and again Moravian hit both shots from the line, making the gap four. And once more, Selvaggi would come up with a clutch make from deep, making it 66-65 with 15 seconds to go. Two more makes from the line made the score 68-65 in Moravian's favor, and finally the magic would run out for the River Hawks, as they would finally get across midcourt after Moravian used two of their fouls to give to bleed down the clock, and a final three-point heave from Selvaggi as time expired would come up short.
Despite the result, Susquehanna had one of their best offensive performances of the season, outscoring Moravian in nearly every category and shooting a lofty 46.4 percent from the floor as a team. Lynch had a standout day, scoring a career-high 24 points while going a perfect four for four from beyond the arc and 10 for 17 from the floor. Selvaggi finished with 16 points and added four assists, while Julia Roth would be the other River Hawk in double-digit scoring with 11 points, along with tying for the team lead in rebounds with nine. Olivia Brandt also had nine boards, along with scoring eight points and adding four assists. Pinckert led the team with six assists, also tallying six points and five rebounds.
The team will have numerous positives to take into their next game, which will have them hit the road on Wednesday evening to face Goucher College, the only team in the Landmark yet to win a conference game. With SU sitting at 6-11 overall and 1-5 in the conference, they'll hope to get back in the win column and start a run with the second matchups against each conference foe coming in quick succession. Wednesday's game will tip off at 7 pm.
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--RIVER HAWKS--
