Carlisle, PA — It may have taken a bit longer than head coach Mike Miller would have liked, but the ninth-ranked Messiah College women's basketball team opened the 2008 portion of its '07-'08 schedule with a win, defeating neighbor Dickinson College by a 70-55 score Saturday afternoon in comeback fashion.
Messiah (12-1, 0-0), playing in its first contest since an impressive two-game sweep in the Triple Crown Sports Caribbean Showdown in Cancun, Mexico before Christmas, opened sluggishly Saturday, falling behind by an initial 11-3 score to the host Red Devils. Dickinson (5-4, 4-1) led by a 31-27 score at halftime, but a dominant second-half from the Falcons would severely reverse the game's trends: Messiah would shoot at a 70.8 percent clip from the field (17 of 24) and hold Dickinson to just an eight of 34 effort (23.5 percent) in the latter 20 minutes, cruising to victory in the process.
“Dickinson did a great job of taking us out of the things we wanted to do in the first 15 minutes today,” Miller said. “Dickinson outplayed us on the glass in the first half.”
The Red Devils possessed a monstrous 26 to 13 advantage in rebounding after the first half of play, and benefited from making five of their first eight shots from the field en route to the early eight-point advantage. Messiah slowly got back into things, however, as a three pointer from freshman Angie Rapchinksi at the half's 14:45 mark accounted for the Falcons' first bucket from the field.
Dickinson maintained a narrow lead at the break thanks to more attempts from the floor and a better shooting clip than Messiah in the first half, as the Red Devils' nine offensive boards helped to a 15 of 33 shooting percentage (45.5 percent) in the first half of play.
Sadly for the Red Devils, halftime could not be avoided.
“We utilized the break well and our players did a wonderful job of implementing some in-game adjustments,” Miller said. “We found and exploited some holes in their defensive scheme.”
That exploitation came mostly from senior Lauren Schurr, as the shooting guard buried four second-half three pointers — en route to a five for eight overall performance from deep — to help the Falcons to an incredible final 20 minutes of play. After a layup from senior Nikki Lobach cut the Dickinson lead to 31-29 just moments into the second half, Schurr buried back-to-back long balls to help her team capture a 35-34 lead. Dickinson was able to re-claim a one-point advantage after a made jump shot from Laura Houseal with 16:39 to play, but a scored jumper from junior Katie Kalb would give the Falcons a 39-38 advantage on their next trip down the floor, a lead the team would not surrender. Dickinson stayed close until a 10 to nothing Falcon run turned a 46-45 game into a 56-45 difference at the half's midway point, a run capped by Schurr's fifth three pointer of the afternoon.
The Red Devils would cut the lead to just nine points on two occasions following that basket, as Messiah would lead by as many as 17 points before settling for the 15-point final.
Schurr led the way for the Falcons, scoring 17 points in just 23 minutes of work. Lobach added 16 points on a seven for 11 effort from the field, while Brooks and Rapchinski added nine and eight points, respectively. Kalb scored seven points, going three for four from the field.
Brooks grabbed a team-leading eight boards, while she and senior Gwen Avery each blocked three shots. Those efforts led to a season-best seven blocks for the squad.
“Lauren Schurr's and Katie Kalb's perimeter shooting opened some things up for us,” Miller said.
Messiah — ranked ninth in the Jan. 2 USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll — will next travel to Alvernia College on Thursday. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
