Box Score
Grantham, PA — Following Saturday's 61-39 blasting of Arcadia University in Brubaker Auditorium, Messiah head coach Mike Miller was praising his starting five for being able to get off the court.
Quickly, that was.
Messiah jumped out to a 33-18 halftime lead and never looked back, keeping any player from seeing more than 25 minutes of court time and extending its winning streak to six games — securing at least one home game in the upcoming Commonwealth Conference Tournament as well.
It was all music to the ears of Miller, who watched just one player — sophomore forward Dori Gyori — score in double-figures in perhaps the team's most balanced performance of the year.
“I thought our starters did a great job of starting both halves, and they really honored their teammates tonight,” Miller said. “We've had some close games, and we haven't been able to do this. Tonight, our first group really played at a high level.”
A three-pointer from sophomore guard Nicky Hess began the shellacking, as Messiah (16-6, 10-2) scored 17 of the game's initial 21 points, taking a 17-4 lead just seven minutes in. It was a 23-6 lead seven minutes later, and by that point the score table had become a revolving door for Falcons: Miller played 11 of his XX dressed players in the opening stanza, giving way to each player seeing court time after the intermission.
At the break, the Falcons had forced 18 Arcadia turnovers while committing just four of their own, hitting on 47.1 percent of their shots while keeping the Knights to just 35.3 percent shooting. Hess did most of her damage during that time, scoring seven of her eventual nine points, while classmate Dori Gyori knocked in eight of her eventual 10. Classmate Jordan Seiz also scored all eight of her points in the game's first 20 minutes, helping Miller's bench get extended minutes later.
“When I say starters, I mean Jordan as well,” Miller said. “She was tremendous tonight. Our first group really was in sync on both ends of the court, and they gave their teammates a chance to play. We were obviously ready to play tonight. There was no letdown from (the) Lebanon Valley (College game).”
Fresh off a 59-55 win over the #9/#11 Dutchmen on Wednesday, Miller's group looked the part of a conference-leader Saturday. Nine straight points opened the second half of play, as Gyori scored her final points with 15:59 to go — giving Messiah a 42-18 advantage.
The lead would grow to as many as 29 points in the game's final three minutes (61-32), but by that point the sweat on Miller's star players had already dried: All but one Falcon played eight minutes or more, while Arcadia (7-15, 1-10) scored the game's final seven points in the final 2:55 of play.
When the final buzzer mercifully sounded, the Falcons had forced a season-high 30 turnovers off a year's best 14 steals, limiting the Knights to just 12 of 40 shooting (30 percent) overall.
Gyori's 10 points led the way, while Messiah's statistics looked like an advertisement for equal opportunity: Seven players scored between six and 10 points, while — outside of Gyori — no one took more than seven shots on the game.
“Every game we seem to be gaining chemistry,” Miller said. “When we played at Arcadia (a 53-38 win Jan. 22), it was a tie game at halftime. I'm really happy with our kids. I'm happy everyone got to be involved tonight.”
With the win, Messiah is now guaranteed to host one of the Commonwealth Conference Semi-Final match-ups Wednesday, Feb. 23. The team has two regular-season games remaining, with a Tuesday evening affair at Lycoming College next on the docket. Game time is set for 6 p.m. at Lyco's Lamade Gymnasium.
