Grantham, PA — With an offensive school record already broken earlier this season, the Messiah women's basketball team turned its attention to the defensive side of the books Thursday night, handing Hood College a 79-23 haymaker at Brubaker Auditorium.
The 23 points allowed were the fewest in the modern era of Messiah basketball, while the 56-point discrepancy marked the program's largest margin of victory since a 104-45 win over Eastern University back on Nov. 18, 2000.
Complementing a 79-62 win at the University of Scranton in which the Falcons shot a school-record 73.7 percent from the field on Dec. 2, Thursday's win provided a confidence builder — historically speaking, at minimum — as Messiah preps for MAC Commonwealth play this weekend.
“We had some specific goals for tonight, certain areas we've been trying to emphasize, and I was proud of how we responded,” said Mike Miller, Messiah head coach. “Instead of going 100 miles an hour, we wanted to make smart basketball plays, and for the majority, I thought we did that.”
Things were never in doubt for Messiah (9-2), as Miller's team buried its first three shots of the night — all from three-point land — en route to a 14-4 lead just four and a half minutes into play. Hood (3-9) would make just four baskets in each half, being limited to just eight of 45 shooting from the floor overall — a 17.8 percentage. That mark served as the Falcons' best defensive field goal percentage since holding Widener University to just 17 percent shooting in a 78-29 win last year.
With the defensive clamps in full vice grip, Messiah — ranked 19th in both the latest USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll and the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25 — aided its efforts with solid shooting from the field (32 of 59 overall, 54.2 percent) and a monstrous effort on the boards: The Falcons finished with a 43-24 lead in overall rebounding (the team's largest advantage of the season), grabbing 16 offensive rebounds after missing just 27 attempts from the field.
“We wanted to value the ball, be aggressive rebounding and take more pride defensively,” Miller said. “Again, I was really proud of our kids. They worked hard and they honored the game the whole way through. We shared the ball, no one was selfish … it was just a good effort from start to finish.”
Possessing a 40-10 lead at the half, Miller made certain to rotate all 10 of his players evenly. Senior Katie Kalb logged a team-high 23 minutes of play, while no other player saw more than 21 minutes of action.
Regardless of the lineup, the Falcons continued to dominate. A post basket from sophomore Michele Schleich gave Messiah its largest lead (79-19) with 2:21 on the clock, while the hosts forced 21 turnovers on the night as well.
Senior Christa Wenrich played perhaps her finest game as a collegian in the win, scoring a career-high 17 points while not missing a shot from either the field (five for five) or the free throw line (four of four) in just 19 minutes of work. Kalb added 14 points on a four of seven effort from deep, while senior Ashley Brooks scored 13 points. Sophomore Angie Rapchinski added 10, giving Messiah four players in double-figure scoring for the third time both this season and in the last four games.
Senior Sal Shani paced Messiah's efforts on the glass with eight rebounds, while Brooks (six), Rapchinski (five), Schleich (five) and freshman Anna Walker (five) all put up big numbers as well.
Messiah now turns its attention to conference play, as the squad will travel to rival Elizabethtown College Saturday to open its league slate. Game time is set for 2 p.m. in Thompson Gymnasium.
