Chester, PA — There is a bulletin board in the Messiah women's basketball team locker room, counting down the practices, games and days left in the 2009-2010 season.
Consider it a chronological motivator.
The team tacked on another impressive win since the board's inception, knocking off Commonwealth Conference rival Widener University by a 62-45 score Saturday afternoon at the Pride's Schwartz Athletic Center.
That victory came just three days after the Falcons dispatched the University of Scranton — a team ranked seventh in the latest USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll and sixth in the most recent D3hoops.com ballot — by a similar 62-55 count, giving head coach Mike Miller reason to smile.
“I'm pleased,” he said late Saturday afternoon. “This was our first really good conference road win of the season, in terms of our execution and our being ready to play. It was our best yet. Before the Scranton game, we started our countdown to the end of the year. Our point was not to ever leave anything on the floor. We've been at this since August. It's about maximizing the time we have left.”
Saturday against Widener (9-10, 5-3) Miller's group seemed like a team on a mission.
Following an early 1-0 deficit, Messiah (17-2, 7-1) scored the game's next seven points, eventually opening up an 11-3 lead with just over 13 minutes to play in the first half.
A gradual push from the hosts tied the game at 14-14 and again at 16-16, but a three-pointer from freshman Julia Groves and free throws and a pair of post buckets from classmate Dori Gyori helped the Falcons to a 25-19 advantage with 4:16 to go.
Another bucket from Gyori was answered by a three pointer from Widener's Lil Carney, pulling the hosts to within a 27-22 deficit with three minutes before halftime.
It was at that point that the game would change permanently.
Sophomore Anna Walker missed a three on Messiah's next possession, but Gyori was there for the offensive rebound, kicking the ball back out to a wide-open Walker.
She buried her second effort, putting the Falcons back up by eight.
Following a swat from Gyori on the defensive end, Walker canned another triple on Messiah's ensuing possession, turning a five-point difference into a 33-22 Falcons' lead — a score that remained at halftime — in the blink of an eye.
“Anna hit two big shots for us and Dori was an absolute beast,” Miller said. “Their play helped us after (senior) Julie (Henninger) went out with two fouls.”
Gyori's first-half stat line was that of fantasy basketball, as the first-year forward from Hungary went 5-9 from the floor, scored 13 points, grabbed six boards, dished out the aforementioned assist, made the aforementioned block and swiped two steals.
Meanwhile, she limited Widener's 6-3 Casey Pritz to no points and four turnovers in just six minutes of action.
Messiah's surge of momentum carried over into the second half, where Miller's group forced turnovers on Widener's first two possessions, scoring off both to go up 37-22. The Pride would cut the lead to eight (39-31) with 15:38 to play, but Gyori finished an artistic layup off an utterly beautiful pass from junior Michele Schleich on Messiah's next possession, regaining a 10-point lead.
“That basket almost didn't happen,” Miller said. “I was trying to call a timeout, but the official didn't hear me. It was a great pass from Michele.”
Saturday's game was played with only two officials, as the third got stuck in snow-stalled traffic around the Baltimore area, failing to make it.
That suited Miller just fine — especially on his unheard timeout request — as freshman Nicky Hess canned a triple on the Falcons' ensuing possession to make it a 44-31 game.
Widener would get no closer than 11 points the remainder of the way, trailing by as many as 20 in the final five minutes of action.
“The (two) officials did a really good job,” Miller said. “This is a tough place to play, and Widener has proven to be a tough program to play. I thought we matched their intensity, especially early. They came out strong, but so did we. We didn't get punched in the mouth. I thought that was a big key.”
The play of Gyori was also huge, as the 6-2 post finished with her sixth career double-double — and second straight — scoring a career-high 17 points and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds. Walker scored nine points — hitting three threes — while Henninger finished with seven.
Seventeen of Messiah's 20 field goals came off of assists. The team also came up with 21 steals on the game, the second-highest mark of the season.
“It's clear we're getting better,” Miller said. “We're starting to know our people. We're making some subtle changes and some not-so-subtle changes. We're taking a one-game-at-a-time attitude, and everyone is buying into that.”
The Falcons' next game is a big one — from a fans' perspective, anyway — as the team hosts arch-rival Elizabethtown College Wednesday night. Game time is set for 6 p.m. in Brubaker Auditorium.
