Williamsport, PA — For senior Sal Shani, it had little do to with Lycoming College. They just happened to be next on the schedule.
The athletic forward scored 19 points and ripped down 13 rebounds, leading Messiah to a 69-36 blasting at Lyco Tuesday night — a result that helped the team quickly forget about a Saturday overtime loss at Albright College.
Shani shot a season-worst two of 13 from the field in that defeat — Messiah's first league loss in its last 22 opportunities — but responded by going nine of 13 Tuesday night, recording her seventh double-double of the season en route to the Falcons' seventh win by 30 or more points on the year.
“Sal was pretty motivated as soon as Saturday's game ended,” said Mike Miller, Messiah head coach. “I heard her say something about feeling sorry for the next team we play as we were leaving (Albright). She really worked on being strong and attacking the basket tonight. She was much more physical offensively.”
Shani scored nine first-half points while collecting nine first-period rebounds, helping Messiah (21-3, 10-1) to a 36-16 halftime lead. Classmate Ashley Brooks poured in 10 points in the game's first 20 minutes, giving Miller a lethal one-two punch that Lycoming (15-8, 4-7) simply could not match up against.
“Ashley was wonderful in the first half, on both ends of the court,” Miller said. “She and Sal really set the tone, and I think everyone else kind of fed off that.”
A bucket from the Warriors' Andrea Cooper gave Lycoming its only lead of the evening with 17:21 to play in the first half, but back-to-back layups from junior Julie Henninger and Shani turned a 4-3 lead from the hosts into a 7-4 Messiah advantage. A three ball and jumper from Brooks turned it into a 16-6 ballgame with 11:30 to go in the first, while buckets from senior Kristen Groff and sophomore Angie Rapchinski opened up a 20-6 disparity.
Messiah — ranked 13th in both this week's USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll and the D3hoops.com ballot — then expanded its bulge to the 20-point difference at intermission behind another Shani basket and three more points from Brooks, a combination that helped turn a 31-16 lead into the 36-16 halftime spread.
“I thought we were excellent defensively,” said Miller, who watched his team limit Lyco to just seven of 28 first-half shooting (25 percent). “We communicated well and our focus was excellent.”
Miller's squad would fashion its lead to 25 points midway through the second half, leading by as many as 35 before the final 33-point discrepancy. That was all despite just a four of 20 performance (20 percent) from three-point range, the Falcons' third-lowest shooting clip from deep on the season.
“We still didn't shoot the ball well, but we'll get that back,” Miller said. “Every three we took was uncontested, coming off good ball movement and extra passes. We just missed them.”
What Messiah did do was outrebound Lycoming by a 47-33 difference, holding the hosts to just 15 of 56 shooting from the floor (26.8 percent). Miller's team also made the most of 22 free throw opportunities (making 17, 77.3 percent), holding Lyco to just a two for five charity-stripe performance.
Brooks complemented Shani's 19/13 evening with 10 points and eight rebounds. Rapchinski scored 12. Senior Katie Kalb and sophomore Michele Schleich each chipped in eight points, with Schleich handing out a game-high four assists.
“We had 19 turnovers, but most of them were aggressive turnovers, with the kids trying to do what we asked,” Miller said. “It was just good to get back in the gym again. We were able to put Saturday behind us while at the same time learning some things about ourselves for the next one.”
That 'next one' is against Widener University Saturday afternoon, the Falcons' final regular-season game of the year. Miller will honor his five senior members before tip-off, while Messiah will be participating in the WBCA Pink Zone Week, a collaboration to fight against breast cancer.
Game time is set for 2 p.m. Saturday in Brubaker Auditorium.
