Grantham, PA — Flip-flopping to the MAC Commonwealth Conference at the start of the 2007-2008 academic year, Lycoming College looked to spoil the Messiah College women's basketball team's run of 37 straight conference wins Wednesday night in Brubaker Auditorium.
The new league foe may have succeeded, if it weren't for Silalei Shani.
The junior forward scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds to help Messiah push its streak to 37 regular-season home conference wins in a row, defeating Lycoming by a 60-47 score. Shani scored 13 of her points in a second-half performance that literally kept the Falcons afloat, helping Messiah (16-2, 3-0) rebound after a five-point, second-period deficit.
“Lycoming is a scrappy team, and you have to give them credit for the way they played us tonight,” said Mike Miller, Messiah head coach. “But Sal was obviously huge for us both offensively and defensively down the stretch. It's not always going to be pretty, but we're happy with the win.”
Facing Lycoming for the first time since the 2000-2001 season, it was clear from the outset that the newest member of the MAC Commonwealth league was prepared for a battle. The Warriors took an early 5-3 lead after a pair of shot-clock beating jumpers, and the team's penchant for hitting tough shots did not fade as time elapsed: Following a 12 for 25 effort from the floor in the first period, Lycoming only trailed Messiah by a 29-27 score at the half.
The Warriors then came out and held Messiah scoreless for the first six minutes of the second half, capturing a 34-29 lead with 15:56 remaining.
It was then that Shani checked in, however, and gave Miller's team new life.
The Dakar, Senegal native grabbed a defensive rebound just moments after stepping on the floor and was fouled on a coast-to-coast drive. Her two free throws would be the first of six straight points for the lanky forward, pulling Messiah within a 36-35 count with 11:15 to play.
Following a pair of made free throws from Lycoming, it was junior Katie Kalb's turn to step up, burying a three pointer to tie the game 38-38 at the 10:45 mark. A layup from Lycoming's Jessica Nabholz reclaimed a 40-38 lead for the visitors, but Shani scored again just 43 seconds later to knot the game at 40-40.
Despite the teams' lack of familiarity — Lycoming was a long-time member of the MAC Freedom Conference until this season — the two teams looked like storied rivals over the game's next three and a half minutes. Traded possessions equated to a 45-44 Messiah lead with 5:22 remaining, when Kalb hit her second three of the game to push the Falcons ahead by a 48-44 score.
A block and subsequent rebound from Shani foiled the Warriors next possession, and Shani scored another post basket on Messiah's next trip, stretching the team's lead to 50-44.
And while Lycoming's Jessica Zerbee knocked in a three on the Warriors' next possession to make it a 50-47 game, the momentum was short-lived for the visitors. Junior Ashley Brooks buried a baseline jumper to pull Messiah ahead 52-47, and another Shani rejection began a Falcons' fast break that resulted in a three-ball from senior Lauren Schurr.
When senior Amy Reed collected a steal on Lycoming's next trip, Kalb streaked down the floor for a leak-out layup, taking the assist from Reed and opening up a 57-47 gap with 2:21 to play.
The game, and Lycoming's bid for instant notoriety in the Commonwealth league, was over.
“The story of the game for us was really our bench play in the second half,” Miller said. “Sal was just great as was Katie Kalb. Katie continues to play solidly for us night in and night out. (Senior) Nikki (Lobach) kept us in it early, and our bench was really good late.”
Lobach — who scored 10 points in the first half — finished with 14 points on a five of 13 effort from the floor. Shani scored her 19 on an eight for 12 shooting performance, adding three blocks to go with her career-best nine boards. Schurr finished with nine points, while Kalb scored eight points and collected a season-high five boards.
The team registered seven blocked shots, equaling a season high. To Miller's dismay, however, the Falcons also turned the ball over 21 times, pushing their average number of miscues to 21.8 per game over the last four contests.
“It's becoming a pattern,” Miller said. “We didn't take care of the basketball the way that we should. We have to continue to work at that. Our league is extremely tough. Every game is going to be like this. Everybody is out to get us, and we need to be ready.”
Messiah will next travel to Widener University Saturday for another MAC Commonwealth tilt. Game time is set for 1 p.m.
