Grantham, PA — For a little more than 12 minutes of Tuesday night's MAC Commonwealth match-up with visiting Albright College, it appeared that Messiah had a potential suitor to disrupt the Falcons' 41-game winning streak of regular-season league contests at home. The Lions had stayed neck-and-neck with the Falcons, keeping the score knotted at 17-17 with 8:31 remaining in the first half.
Then reality set in.
Messiah (14-2, 4-0) went on a 21-4 spurt — a run encompassing both sides of the halftime break — claiming a 38-21 lead. From there, it was arithmetic: Albright (9-7, 1-3) would get no closer than 12 points the rest of the way, as the Falcons won their eighth straight game of the year and 42nd straight regular-season conference home game — a streak dating back to the 2002-2003 season.
“After that first 12 minutes, we were pretty good tonight,” said Messiah head coach Mike Miller. “Early, we weren't very sharp. Our transition defense wasn't very good, and we weren't thinking the game very clearly. We were able to change that collectively, which was a testament to the kids. They responded very well.”
Ranked 14th in Tuesday's new USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll and 15th in Monday's D3hoops.com Top 25 rating, Messiah appeared a shadow of itself during the game's opening moments. A pair of dropped defensive assignments led to wide-open three pointers for the Lions' Jessica McGinness, and it was the visitors that claimed a 14-10 lead just seven and a half minutes into play. A post bucket from senior Sal Shani began a quick, 7-0 spurt for the Falcons, but Albright answered with a jumper and a free throw to tie things up with 8:31 to play in the first period.
Following a pair of Messiah turnovers on its next two possessions, Miller called a 30-second timeout.
It would prove to alter the entire course of the evening.
Two free throws from Shani began the aforementioned 21-4 run, with 19 of those points coming before the first half was over. Sophomore Michele Schleich followed with a pair of free throws on Messiah's ensuing trip, while a pair of layups from senior Ashley Brooks made it a 25-19 game with 3:45 to go in the half.
Shani came up with yet another big play following two made free throws from sophomore Angie Rapchinski, hanging in the air to convert a traditional play at the 3:02 mark. An offensive rebound and putback from Shani made it a 32-19 game with 1:44 remaining in the first half, while the athletic senior capped things off with a layup following another made charity toss from Brooks.
When the teams jogged off the floor at the intermission, Shani had scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds — numbers that would eventually translate to a season-high 18 points and a career-high 13 boards.
“Sal was absolutely awesome tonight,” Miller said. “We've been (waiting), and she's been waiting to have a break out game like this. It was fun to see her play the game how she wants to play it. She was aggressive, she played athletically. To be honest, it was a lot of fun for us to watch it.”
Shani accounted for nine of Messiah's final 19 points of the first half. Perhaps feeling the need to prove her team-leading 13.5 points-per-game average, it was senior Katie Kalb who stepped up in the second period. The scrappy shooting guard buried two threes in the opening two minutes of the final stanza, helping Messiah to a 41-23 advantage. After scoring just two points in the first half, Kalb finished with 16 in the second, going four for four behind the arc and generally being a defensive pest to Albright's backcourt.
That defense held the Lions' point guard and leading scorer Bre Dillon to a season-low one point, as the Falcons would keep Albright at a safe distance throughout the game's final 15 minutes: The visitors would pull within 12 points on three occasions, only to be outdone by a Messiah mini-surge each time. Albright's final push came with 9:12 to play (53-41), but an 8-0 Falcons' run ended any hopes of a rally. Another long ball from Kalb started it, while a layup from Shani made it a 61-41 contest with just 5:42 to go. Messiah's lead would extend to as many as 23 points (68-45 with 1:58 remaining) before the final 20-point margin was posted.
Shani recorded her third double-double of the season in the win, grabbing the most rebounds of her collegiate life while scoring her highest amount since a career-high 24 points against St. Lawrence University in last season's NCAA Tournament. Kalb also scored 18 points, while Brooks tallied 13 and Schleich 10. It was the seventh time in the last nine games that Messiah placed at least four players in double-figure scoring, while Brooks ran her consecutive-games-in-double-figure-scoring tally to six. Messiah also outrebounded an opponent for the eighth consecutive game (35-34). The team made more free throws (22 of 30, 73.3 percent) than its opponent attempted (Albright: six of 14, 42.9 percent) for the seventh time this season.
“We still have to take better care of the basketball,” Miller said of his team's 21 turnovers, “but tonight we were able to correct some issues in mid-game, which was good to see. We'll continue to work in some areas that need improvement. In all though, this was a very good win for us.”
Messiah will take to the road next, as the Falcons will visit Widener University Saturday. Game time is set for 1 p.m.
