Grantham, PA – As early December rolled around on the Messiah College women's basketball schedule, the Falcons opened Commonwealth Conference play against Albright College — after darting out to a 3-0 overall slate.
Head coach Mike Miller said he hoped the team would play well in the league opener. He also said he hoped for a positive result.
Wednesday night at Brubaker Auditorium, Miller received one of his two wishes.
Despite posting a 58-38 victory over the Lions to move to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in Commonwealth play, Miller said he was unhappy with the outing of his team.
“Simply stated, we were not good tonight,” Miller after the win, whose team entered the game ranked 24th in the nation in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll. “On offense we were flat-out horrible with the ball and we weren't executing our sets when we got set in the half-court. Fortunately, though, we were solid in our defensive intensity, which disrupted them. However, even on defense, there were areas we need to improve upon. Our weak-side defense and our inability to stop their dribble penetration are areas we need to shape up as we move further into our schedule.”
Entering with a 2-2 record overall, Albright got on the board first after Messiah turned the ball over on their first two possessions. For Miller, this was a major point of emphasis in his post-game meeting, as the Falcons went on to turn the ball over a season-high 28 times on the evening.
That number was Messiah's highest total since a 51-68 loss to DeSales University, when they gave the ball away 29 times.
That game took place on Nov. 23, 2002.
Nevertheless, an early 2-0 Lions' lead would remain short-lived, as the Falcons rattled off the game's next 10 points, forcing Albright into three of their 29 turnovers during that 10-point run.
A see-saw battle for the next few minutes saw the game change when Messiah went on a run after a layup from Albright's Gina Zantopoulos cut the visitors' deficit to five, 16-11, with 10:07 remaining in the opening stanza. The Falcons closed the half on a 15-2 run taking a 31-13 lead into the break. During that stretch, Messiah forced Albright into 10 turnovers while the Lions missed on 12 attempts from the floor.
“We play really hard on both ends of the floor, but especially on the defensive end,” Miller said. “When we made the run to finish the first half, we really dug in and were committed to getting stops and limiting second-chance opportunities for Albright.”
Early in the second half, Albright cut the deficit to 14 points early, but that was as close as the Lions would get the rest of the way. A one-for-two trip to the charity stripe for freshman Jordan Seiz, a three-pointer from classmate Nicky Hess (one of four on the night for her) and four straight points from senior Julie Henninger (compliments of two free throws and a lay-up after a steal) highlighted an 8-0 Messiah run that stretched the lead to 22 (42-20) with 13:27 to play, the Falcons' largest advantage of the evening.
Albright trimmed the Messiah lead to 15 on two separate occasions down the stretch, but the Falcons high-pressure defense continued to force the Lions into turnovers and missed shots.
“This team will be really dangerous when we can figure some things out and commit to playing solid on both ends of the floor,” Miller said.
The Falcons defense was the story of the night, forcing Albright into the aforementioned 29 turnovers — also a season high for the guests. The 13 first-half points allowed by Messiah, and the 38 overall, were also team bests for Miller's club through its first four games.
Interestingly, the Falcons recorded their lowest total of makes (22) from the field on the year while attempting a season-high 57 shots — a shooting clip of 38.6 percent. Defensively, Albright's 16 makes was also a season-low for a Falcon opponent, while the Lions' 58 attempts were a Falcon opponent high.
“All this proves it that if and when we buy in on the defensive end, we will be in every game we play,” Miller pointed out. “We have the tools to be good on offense. We will get contributions off the bench. Our starters will be consistent and we do not have one player that opposing teams can key on because nobody averages an extremely high number of shots from the floor.
“It will come and we will get better,” he continued. “It all starts with taking care of the basketball. We have to protect the basketball with a little more pride than we did tonight.”
A trio of Falcons led the way for Messiah as Hess, Henninger and junior Michele Schleich each chipped in a game-high 14 points. Schleich just missed a double-double as she pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
“Michele was outstanding tonight,” quipped Miller, “and really, she has been each game thus far. She played really well tonight. Nicky Hess was key tonight, too, knocking down some key shots and hitting open looks that she had.”
However, a fact not lost on Miller was the program's highest amount of turnovers in eight seasons, with all of but three of the 28 coming from the team's five starters.
“It all starts with taking care of the basketball,” Miller said. “We have to protect the basketball with a little more pride than we did tonight.”
The Falcons will have a quick turnaround as they prepare to hit the road to face archrival Elizabethtown College Saturday at 2 p.m.. The Blue Jays will enter the contest 1-4 overall after dropping their opening Commonwealth Conference game Wednesday night in overtime. Two of the other losses have been close results; a seven-point loss to Franklin and Marshall College and a two-point loss to Marywood University.
Saturday's game will be the first of a women's-men's doubleheader with the men's game following approximately at 4 p.m. All games will be played in E'Town's Thompson Gymnasium.
