East Rutherford, NJ — Talk about efficiency.
It took the Messiah College women's basketball team one attempt to do what it took the NBA's New Jersey Nets eight tries to do — win a game at the IZOD Center, the home court of the Nets.
En route to a NBA-futility record through a team's first 18 games (0-18 overall while compiling a 0-7 home mark) the Nets recorded their first victory less than a week ago with a 97-91 home victory over the Charlotte Hornets Dec. 4.
With head coach Mike Miller's team in town to play Lehman College on the home court of the Nets, it was Messiah who took 90 minutes to record a victory.
Not 18 games overall.
Not eight home games.
Just 90 minutes.
Hitting the court just a mere 18 hours after defeating Johns Hopkins University 65-43 on Tuesday evening, Messiah took the road to the IZOD Center for a rare 3 p.m. tipoff.
After initially falling behind while Lehman scored the first four points of the game, it didn't take long for Messiah (7-0) to get things rolling.
After Lehman's quick 4-0 spurt, Miller's squad tied the contest just 90 seconds later en route to a 10-0 run. It would be a run in which the Falcons would never look back upon, winning going away, 70-38.
“We played very well tonight,” Miller said. “I am very pleased with the whole experience. Playing two games in less than 24 hours, playing in an NBA Arena, which can be tough to adjust to the depth perception, and putting aside other distractions, I thought the girls focused in and really committed to doing the job well.”
Freshmen Dori Gyori put the Falcons on the board on Messiah's third possession of the night with a close range lay-up, bringing a large contingent of Falcons' fans — the announced attendance was 200 — to their feet. Three possessions later, senior Julie Henninger tied the game on a fast-break lay-up.
Less than two minutes later, freshmen Jordan Seiz gave Messiah the lead before Gyori connected on the back end of a two-shot foul.
While the Falcons were on the backside of making their 10-0 run, it was sophomore Anna Walker who capped the run with the first three-pointer of the game at the half's 13:52 mark.
Clearly, the key to the spurt was the Falcons' work on the defensive end, as they held Lehman (2-5) scoreless for more than seven minutes of game clock.
“We defended extremely well, which is most important,” said Miller. “Our on-the-ball pressure was terrific for the second night in a row. Eventually, it became a matter of us wearing them down and we were able to do that.”
Defense was the motto the rest of the first half for Messiah.
After the Lightning's Dorothy Hunte converted a lay-up with 9:21 left in the opening stanza, Lehman had cut the deficit to just four, 14-10.
However, from that point forward, high-pressure defense was entered from the visitors from Grantham.
Messiah forced the Lightning into eight turnovers in the first period's final 9:21, holding Lehman to just five points over that time.
As a result, Messiah extended their lead to 28-15 at the break, a margin that would not get any less the rest of the evening.
Like a bullet shot out of a gun, the Falcons found a high-flying tempo after the intermission.
Over the first 4:28 of the second half, Messiah went on a 16-4 run to erase any hope that the Lightning had of getting back into the contest. During the stretch, junior Michelle Schleich contributed eight points while Gyori added six and Henninger added a bucket.
When Seiz nailed two free throws with 7:36 left — on her way to a five-for-six effort from the line — Messiah had registered its largest lead of the night, 58-24.
Down the stretch, Miller was able to utilize his bench, as all 12 available players clocked at least eight minutes worth of action. Miller said that, in playing back-to-back days, having fresh legs was a key to victory — in both games.
“(Freshmen) Megan Shipe and (sophomore) Tremaine Simmons got after it and really played well in the minutes they were on the court,” Miller stated. “They tried hard to make an impression and are a part of the depth we have on the bench.”
Perhaps the biggest area of focus for Miller was a continued effort to be efficient on the offensive end — which starts with quality play on the defensive end.
Offensive effectiveness has been helped by better execution and an increased focused on ball protection over the last three games. Wednesday afternoon, Messiah turned the ball over 14 times, more than eight below its their season average. Henninger may have been the biggest hero in the turnover category, as the Carlisle, Pa. native had a tremendous overall effort, scoring 12 points, grabbing five steals and securing two boards. She had no turnovers.
“Julie was our most valuable player tonight,” Miller said of his lone senior. “Our three starting guards (Henninger, Seiz and freshmen Nicky Hess) only turned the ball over four times. If we have that kind of efficiency from our guards, we will be dangerous.”
Converting off the turnovers was also a key for Messiah as the Falcons outscored the Lightning 43-8 in points off giveaways, forcing Lehman into 36 errors with the basketball.
Schleich paced Messiah with 13 points on a six of 10 shooting performance from the floor, while Henninger's 12 was next in line. Gyori scored 11 points.
With back-to-back games behind them, Miller's team will now focus on finishing out the first semester with an unblemished slate Saturday night. DeSales University, a perennially strong regional opponent, visits Brubaker Auditorium in a game slated for 7 p.m.
“We want to treat Saturday like a championship game,” Miller said. “It's our last game of the first semester and we would be elated to finish the semester with a perfect record. (Our record) really is a credit to our assistant coaches (Jodi Noble, Colleen McCallus, Larry Sassaman and Kristin Sassaman) for bringing our young players along so quickly.”
After Saturday's tilt against the Bulldogs, the Falcons will have a 19-day hiatus from game action as they won't return to the court until Dec. 31 in Thousand Oaks, Cal. The squad will then face the University of California-Santa Cruz, the first of three games for the Falcons on the Pacific coast.
