Williamsport, PA — It was business as usual for the Messiah College women's basketball team Wednesday night at Lycoming College, as the Falcons cruised to their seventh straight MAC Commonwealth Conference win in a 56-36 decision in Lamade Gymnasium.
A strong defensive effort helped Messiah (20-2, 7-0) remain unbeaten in league play, while Falcons' head coach Mike Miller recorded his ninth consecutive 20-win season — and 10th overall — in the process.
“It was a very workmanlike performance for us tonight, and we played hard and with passion,” Miller said. “Any conference road win is good and to win by 20 is excellent.”
The Falcons, moving up to seventh in both the latest USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll and the D3hoops.com Top 25 rating, used a suffocating defense that forced 22 Warriors turnovers off of 14 steals, all while holding the hosts to a docile 30.4 percent shooting clip on the night.
It was that defensive effort that helped offset a less-than-spectacular night offensively for Messiah — the team made just 20 of 53 total shots for a 37.7 percent shooting score — capped by a 42 to 31 rebounding edge as well.
Miller said that much of the team's recent focus has come on the defensive end of the floor, and the results are tangible: In its last four games, Messiah has allowed its opponents to shoot at an average clip of just 30.1 percent from the field.
“We've been working on some things in our man defense trying to create more turnovers that can lead to some points,” Miller said. “I think we did that tonight with our 14 steals.”
Logically, Miller's team slowly built its lead with defensive pressure Wednesday night, as the team eeked out to a 27-14 lead at halftime thanks to holding Lycoming (10-11, 1-6) to just a six of 23 first-half shooting performance (26.1 percent). The hosts scored the game's first points but led for a total of just 1:21, as senior Amy Reed buried a jumper to tie the score at 2-2 just moments later.
When junior Ashley Brooks made one of two free throws at the 16:20 mark, Messiah led by a 3-2 score and would never relinquish the advantage. Relying heavily on Reed in the early goings — she finished with nine first-half points on a perfect three of three shooting performance — the Falcons gradually built on the lead, getting ahead by an 11-6 count with 11:04 to play and leading 20-12 with 5:20 left.
A pair of free throws from Reed and a fastbreak layup from senior Nikki Lobach closed the first half for Messiah, turning a 23-14 lead with 2:39 on the clock into the 13-point halftime difference.
Lycoming cut the Falcons' gap to eight points just a minute and a half into the second period — 27-19 — but consecutive jumpers from Lobach and Brooks were followed by a three pointer from senior Lauren Schurr. When classmate Gwen Avery scored a post basket at the 15:23 mark, Messiah had completed a nine to two mini-run in just over three minutes. The Warriors would get no closer than 12 points for the remainder of the way and no closer than 15 points in the game's final 10 minutes, as Messiah had captured its ninth win of the season by 20 points or more.
Lobach led all scorers with 12 points while picking off a game-high five steals. Reed and Brooks each finished with nine points, while Brooks equaled a season-high 10 rebounds. Freshman Angie Rapchinski added an impressive seven points and six boards, while junior Silalei Shani put up eight and four.
The dominant win came in Messiah's poorest shooting performance of the conference season to date, as the Falcons' previous league low was a 42.6 percent effort in a 73-64 win at Elizabethtown College on Jan. 26.
“We didn't shoot the ball well tonight but it wasn't like we had tons of shots, and neither did they,” Miller said. “We still have it going, though. We're certainly pleased with our effort tonight. To hold Lycoming 27 points under their season (scoring) average (of 63.6 points per game) and to do it on their court, we're very pleased.”
Messiah will next return to Brubaker Auditorium on Saturday when the team hosts Widener University in another MAC Commonwealth match-up. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
