By Keaton Kasiguran, GoMessiah.com reporter
Grantham, PA — Generally speaking, the genre of contact sports is usually resigned to football, wrestling or ice hockey.
Following Saturday's Commonwealth Conference tilt between Alvernia University and Messiah, basketball may soon be lumped in as well.
The Falcons came away with a gritty, 76-65 victory over league newcomer Alvernia at Brubaker Auditorium, fighting through a game that saw the home team foul into the double bonus in each half, produced a season-high 22 fouls in the process. Messiah (14-1, 5-0) ultimately outlasted the Crusaders behind a strong second-half push, winning its 49th straight regular-season league game at home overall — a streak dating back to the 2002-2003 season.
Unlike some of the Falcons' more recent opponents, Alvernia (7-4, 3-2) made its intentions known from the opening tip, putting pressure on their hosts early. Messiah soon began to match the intensity of the visiting Crusaders, and took their first lead of the game, 6-5, on a 15-foot leaner from senior guard Julie Henninger with 15:50 left in the first period.
For the rest of the half, both teams' defenses turn up the heat. Whenever one squad finally did make a breakthrough, the other answered right back, resulting in 11 lead changes and six ties.
Although the Crusaders outscored the Falcons 10-13 off turnovers in the opening half, steals from freshmen guards Jordan Seiz and Nicky Hess, and blocks from freshman guard Julia Groves and freshman forward Dori Gyori kept Messiah in the contest. Groves' block with Messiah down 26-27 with 5:25 left in the period may have been the turning point in the game. Not even 30 seconds later, Henninger made a steal of her own and an Alvernia foul on her attempted layup sent her to the line for two shots. She converted both, putting Messiah ahead 28-27.
The Falcons never surrendered the lead again.
Messiah closed the period with arguably their best sequence of the game. Up 32-30 with less than two minutes to play, good ball movement found Seiz on the wing with an open look from the perimeter. With ice in her veins, she drained the shot and extended the Falcons' lead to five.
As Crusdaers' senior guard Joanna Graber brought the ball up the court, smothering defensive pressure from the hosts led to a steal by Maier. The freshman forward collected the ball and drove towards the hoop, but Graber quickly recovered and attempted a steal of her own. Maier, however, anticipated Graber's reach, and with a perfectly executed spin-move, evaded her and converted the layup.
That whole sequence truly was a thing of beauty, and it gave Messiah the momentum heading into the break with a 37-32 lead.
In the second period, things continued to get physical, with Alvernia chalking up five fouls with 14:03 still to play in the contest. At that point Messiah had only committed one foul, but in seemingly the blink of an eye, the Falcons fouled three times, giving them four overall with 12:43 left in the game. On top of that, Henninger committed her third personal foul of the game, limiting her to the bench for stretches in the final period.
Cue junior forward Michele Schleich and Messiah's youth movement.
As has been the case for the majority of the season, Messiah's talented youngsters showed just what all their hype is about, as they began to take control of the game. Sophomore guard Anna Walker hit a three pointer with 13:32 to go, extending the lead to 49-35. It was the first of three triples that Walker would convert, setting the tone for the remainder of the contest.
“We knew we could beat their zone defense by finding the gaps, so I just wanted to be ready to shoot if I got the ball,” Walker reflected on her shots. “All the girls on our team have the ability to change the game for us, and I felt that was what I could bring to the team to help us get a win.”
Coach Miller said he was pleased with the way his young players took control of such an intense game.
“Anna made some big threes for us tonight, and Jordan [Seiz] had a couple of huge jump shots, too,” he said of his young guards' contributions. “I thought Anna had a really good night on Wednesday [against Lycoming College] as well, so it was good to get another strong performance from her tonight.”
Schleich continued to lead by example as she has all season, finishing the night with nine points, eight rebounds and five assists. Miller said he has also been impressed with Schleich's leadership, and he made no secret of the junior forward's value to the team.
“Michele goes hard everyday in practice, that's just her attitude,” Miller said. “The younger girls see that, and it pushes them to play harder.”
As the game winded down, the physicality of the game only grew. Things nearly reached a boiling point when Maier was fouled hard late in the contest. Still, the Falcons kept their composure and were able to see the game out and extend their current win streak to five.
Although Messiah struggled with turnovers throughout the game (24 on the day), their shooting was lights out, with the team finishing half of their 56 shots from the field. Despite being limited due to foul trouble, Henninger led the Falcons with 22 points, five steals and four assists.
Messiah — ranked 15th in the most recent USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Poll, and 14th in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll — hit the road again on Wednesday, heading to rival Lebanon Valley College (13-1, 5-0) for a battle of the league's top two teams. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
“I'm thrilled with the fight and competitiveness our girls showed today,” Miller said. “In the end, their grit and desire to compete made the difference. Now we've got to get back to prepare for a very good LVC team Wednesday. It doesn't get easier.”
