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Grantham, PA — A different prescription was used Wednesday night against the University of Scranton.</p>
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The results were the same.</p>
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A year after Messiah shot a <a class="standard_body_link" href="https://dl-web.dropbox.com/athletics/sports/womens_basketball/articles/0809/dec-2.html">school-record 73.7 percent from the floor</a> in a 79-62 win at Scranton, the Falcons buckled down on defense to claim a 62-55 victory over the Lady Royals, utilizing a game-opening 14-4 run to hand the visitors their first defeat in 11 games.</p>
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Messiah — ranked 14th in this week’s <em>USA Today/ESPN</em> Top 25 Coaches Poll and 15th in this week’s <em>D3hoops.com</em> ballot — secured a season-high 51 rebounds in Wednesday’s win, including a season-high 18 on the offensive end, helping the team to nine more shots than Scranton in the deciding first half of play.</p>
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Both teams entered Wednesday’s game with identical 15-2 win-loss records, while Scranton — ranked #7 and #6 in the aforementioned polls — had scored at least 80 points in its last three games and in four of its last five.</p>
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That type of offensive prowess was not to be in Brubaker Auditorium, however, as Messiah (16-2) limited the Lady Royals to 36.8 percent shooting, holding the visitors 12.8 points below their season scoring average.</p>
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“The energy we brought tonight was wonderful,” said
Mike Miller, Messiah head coach. “Our first-half defense was outstanding. Our rebounding was through the roof, and I thought the energy we brought hurt Scranton emotionally. That was the story early. I think that kind of set the tone, and we were able to fall back on that type of effort throughout the game.”</p>
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Facing the Lady Royals during the team’s week-long, mid-season break from Commonwealth Conference play, Miller’s squad came out with a vengeance — despite playing in front of a smaller-than-usual crowd due to the school’s January-term break beginning that afternoon.</p>
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Scranton (16-2) made a pair of free throws to open the game, but it would be the only lead the Lady Royals would possess all night. A pair of freebies from senior
Julie Henninger tied the game at 2-2 with just a minute and a half elapsed, and when freshman
Kira Maier scored a traditional three-point play with 17:44 to go, Messiah had a lead it would not relinquish.</p>
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The Falcons’ defense would then assert itself, as Miller’s team held Scranton to just one basket in the Lady Royals’ next eight shots, forcing nine turnovers as well. The result was a 14-4 lead with 11:17 remaining in the half, a spread the Falcons would maintain until the final six minutes.</p>
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A three pointer from freshman
Nicky Hess and a layup from senior
Julie Henninger made it a 25-10 contest with 5:33 to go before the half, while a backdoor layup from Henninger made it a 31-14 difference with two minutes remaining.</p>
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Scranton’s Megan Kopecki buried a three-pointer to cut the lead to 12 points with 26 seconds on the game clock, but a layup from freshman
Dori Gyori regained a 33-19 lead on the final possession of the period — keeping Messiah in control at the intermission.</p>
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The Falcons held Scranton to just 7-24 shooting from the floor (29.2 percent) in the game’s first 20 minutes, using 11 offensive rebounds to get nine more shots en route to the 14-point difference.</p>
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Scranton’s most serious push came at the outset of the second half, as a 9-0 run over the first three minutes cut Messiah’s lead to just five points. A post bucket from Henninger stopped the bleeding, but a jumper from the Royals’ Tayler Pallotta made it a 35-30 contest with 15 minutes to play.</p>
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Again, however, Messiah’s energy and defense would make its mark on the game.</p>
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Freshman
Jordan Seiz buried a jumper following an offensive rebound from junior
Michele Schleich, and the Falcons forced four straight misses on Scranton’s end — causing four turnovers as well.</p>
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The result was an 8-0 run encompassing four minutes of game clock, forcing the Lady Royals to call a timeout down 43-30 with 10:45 to play.</p>
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“We got the shots we wanted and we ran our stuff well, all the way up until the last three minutes, really,” Miller said. “(Early in the second half) we missed some of those shots, but we stayed calm and finally started making them again. We made some substitutions, and when those players came back in the game they were much more aggressive.”</p>
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Miller’s group maintained at least a 13-point lead until the final three minutes — leading by as many as 18 along the way — before a sloppy ending made the final score much closer than the game actually was. Messiah finished the game with four straight turnovers, helping Scranton close a 62-49 score with 1:29 to play into the final, seven-point difference.</p>
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Henninger paced the Falcons’ offense with 18 points, while Gyori registered her fifth double-double of the season with 14 points and a game-high 12 boards. Schleich added nine points, while Hess scored eight and Maier seven.</p>
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Schleich and Henninger were especially effective on the defensive end, combining to hold Scranton’s leading scorer, Kopecki, to just nine points for the majority of the contest.</p>
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Kopecki ripped off half of her total 18 points in the game’s final five minutes, as the Lady Royals scrambled to make up a 58-40 deficit.</p>
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“Michele and Julie were absolutely wonderful,” Miller said. “They both do so much for us, aside from scoring. They both help bring the ball up, are asked to guard people like Kopecki … they just were awesome tonight.”</p>
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Wednesday’s win was Messiah’s first over a ranked opponent this season, but that wasn’t cause for massive celebration, as Miller said Henninger spoke to the team afterward about the need for improvement.</p>
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“She said, ‘Girls, we have to get better,’” Miller recalled. “For us, this is just one game. And that’s not cliché, that’s our team. We were satisfied, but not over-excited. We didn’t finish how we would have liked. For us, it’s about focusing on the next game and improving.”</p>
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Messiah will return to conference play next, traveling to Widener University for a 1 p.m. tip off Saturday afternoon.</p>
