Grantham, PA — Just two games into the 2008-2009 season, and it's hard to ask much more out of the Messiah women's basketball team.
After posting more points than in 88 percent of its games from a year ago in an 82-76 win over York College to open the season, the Falcons proved defensively brilliant Friday, handing Eastern University a 66-35 defeat in opening round-play of the 2008 Messiah College/Wingate Hotel Invitational.
Messiah (2-0) held the visiting Eagles to just eight second-half points, limiting Eastern (1-2) to just 28.3 percent shooting on the evening.
“It's neat that we've only played two games and we've won in two completely different ways,” said Mike Miller, Messiah head coach. “I was very pleased with how we improved over the course of tonight's game.”
Improvement appeared somewhat necessary following the first half, as Messiah led by only five (32-27) at the intermission. Eastern out-rebounded the Falcons by an 18-12 difference in the game's first 20 minutes, significantly cutting into a 30-19 deficit behind an 8-2 run over the half's final 3:26.
Fast-forward to what had to be The Greatest Halftime Talk Of All-Time from Miller: Messiah improved to out-rebound Eastern by a 26-18 difference in the second half, all while holding the Eagles to a four-for-25 effort from the field (16 percent).
Behind those numbers, it did not take Messiah long to put the game out of reach. Layups from seniors Sal Shani, Katie Kalb and Christa Wenrich complemented a free throw from classmate Ashley Brooks to expand things to a 39-27 score just two and a half minutes in, while a 15-0 Falcons' push midway through the period made things laughable. Eastern missed 10 straight shots while turning the ball over five times during that eight-minute span, helping the Falcons to a 55-29 lead with just 7:14 to play. A Kalb jumper and four straight free throws made it a 63-33 game with 4:37 to go, but both teams sputtered down the stretch: Messiah missed five of its last six shots from the field, while Eastern was erroneous on four of its final five attempts.
“Our kids really responded to some halftime adjustments,” Miller said. “We had good energy in the first half but we were much more cerebral in the second half. I thought we settled into playing on our own floor for the first time of the year and took care of business in the second half.”
Shani paced Messiah's scoring with 19 points on a seven-for-11 shooting clip, grabbing a team-leading nine rebounds as well. Kalb scored 17 points — bettering her career-high set against York by a point — while Brooks chipped in 14.
Messiah finished with a total 10 blocks on the night, led by Brooks' five. Perhaps most memorable were a pair of perimeter swats from senior Kristen Groff, however, as the 5-7 guard caused Brubaker Auditorium to erupt with a stuff of Eastern's Joelle DeCarlo midway through the second half.
While satisfying, the win came against one of Miller's own, as second-year Eastern head coach Katie Levis spent four years as a member of the Falcons.
“Eastern is an up-and-coming program,” Miller said. “Coach Levis will have them on the map very soon.”
Messiah advances to face Ursinus College in Saturday's championship game, as the Bears dealt Grove City College a 60-52 defeat in the tournament opener. Eastern will meet Grove City in the consolation game at 1 p.m. Saturday. The championship contest is slated for a 3 p.m. tip off.
