Box Score
Grantham, PA — If familiarity truly does breed contempt, Messiah and Widener University are sick of each other.
The Falcons and Pride met in a Commonwealth Conference Semi-Final game for the fourth consecutive season Wednesday — and sixth time in the last nine years — all coming in Brubaker Auditorium.
For Widener, the result was all too common.
An aggressive Messiah game plan coupled with smothering defense helped the hosts to a 74-63 win, as the Falcons used an early second-half push to win their ninth straight contest, heading into Saturday's Commonwealth Conference Championship in the process. A 30-30 halftime score was blown open thanks to a 9-2 Messiah run to open the final stanza of play — a surge that kept Widener at bay throughout.
It was the Falcons' third C'Wealth Semi-Final win over the Pride in the last four years and fourth in the last six, helping Messiah to its sixth league championship game appearance in the last seven years.
“This was truly a team win in every sense of the word,” Messiah head coach Mike Miller said afterward. “We had foul trouble, Widener came at us hard, and things could have gone bad. But we really battled. It wouldn't have been a shame to lose this game. Both teams played very well and extremely hard.”
Foul troubles hindered Messiah's efforts early, as senior Michele Schleich and sophomores Dori Gyori and Kira Maier — all starters — each picked up two infractions before halftime. The same was true of sophomore Jordan Seiz off the bench, and Widener (19-7) took advantage: A layup from the Pride's Mary Lorenz put the visitors on top 14-6 with six and a half minutes elapsed, while a driving layup from Widener's Vanessa Hejnas kept the spread at eight points with 8:31 to go in the first period.
It was then that Miller's club made its slow push back into contention, minus some key players on the floor. Three free throws from sophomore Nicky Hess and a three pointer from freshman Chelsea Danel pulled the club to a 25-21 deficit with 6:18 to play, while two free throws and a layup from Maier tied the game up at 25-25 with just over three minutes remaining.
Messiah actually took a 30-27 lead off a long ball from freshman Taylor Miller with 47 seconds to play in the first half, but Widener buried three of four free throws on its final two possessions, tying the game at the intermission.
As has so often been the case this season, Messiah's play out of the halftime gates was extraordinary.
A Miller jumper ignited the aforementioned 9-2 spurt, while Maier's fourth career three pointer ended it, helping the Falcons to a 39-32 lead just two and a half minutes in.
From there, the game turned into a classic Widener-Messiah post-season battle, with the Pride doing everything in their power to pull even, and the Falcons working hard to prevent it from happening. A layup from Widener's Lil Carney pulled the visitors within a 46-44 score with 10:19 to play, but an old fashioned three-point play from Schleich — off a nifty backdoor cut and feed from Miller — pushed Messiah's advantage back to 49-44. Another Carney layup pulled Widener within a 56-53 deficit with 5:32 to play, but Schleich answered again, taking a nifty high-low feed from Gyori to put the Falcons back up by five.
Perhaps the biggest exchange occurred with just over three minutes to play, when Widener's Kate Dellinger knocked down her second three pointer of the night, making it a 60-57 affair. Almost like a corny movie, however, Miller responded on Messiah's very next possession, drilling a three off a set piece and regaining a six-point advantage.
“I thought Taylor's three was absolutely huge,” the elder Miller said. “You could feel Widener had a bit of momentum, the crowd they brought was great ... (Dellinger's three) could have been a game changer. But we ran a set that we haven't run very well lately and Taylor got a good look.”
In the end, it was Miller's triple — not Dellinger's — that changed the contest's landscape. The six-point difference was as close as Widener would get down the stretch, as the Falcons made 12 of 13 free throws in the final 2:13. That success helped nullify Gyori's fifth foul with 3:52 to play — her foul issues limiting her to a season-low 14 minutes of play.
“I thought the big keys to tonight was our ability to take their hit in the first half and respond, as well as the first few minutes of the second half,” Miller said. “Yeah, we got in foul trouble, and it hurt to lose a First Team All-Commonwealth selection (Gyori) for most of the game. But, Dori was great when she was on the court, and her teammates picked her up when she wasn't.”
Maier and Taylor Miller also did their fair share of carrying, as Maier charted 20 points and Miller 19 — with 12 of Miller's markers coming in the second half. Schleich finished with 11 points to complement yet another stellar defensive effort on the Pride's Dellinger, while Hess knocked in 10.
For as much foul trouble as Messiah found itself in, Widener wasn't much better off, committing 24 infractions and sending the Falcons to the line a season-high 33 times. Messiah made a season-best 28 (84.8 percent).
“The fact that both teams got into the double-bonus so quickly helped us,” Miller said. “It allowed us to play certain people for longer stretches, because there were so many stoppages in play. I thought that Kira was great tonight, as well as Taylor, Nicky and Chelsea. I thought they all played with a real presence about them. We did a lot of switching on their guards, and I thought we made it tough on them. We defended and rebounded really well.”
Messiah now advances to face arch-rival Lebanon Valley College in Saturday's Commonwealth Championship, a game never lacking in storylines: LVC beat Messiah by a 46-32 score in Brubaker back on Jan. 19, only for the Falcons to turn around and snap a 15-game Dutchmen winning streak in a 59-55 win at LVC Gymnasium Feb. 9.
It will be the second straight year that Messiah travels to LVC to compete for the league title, as the Falcons upended Lebanon Valley by a 60-55 score last year — after being swept by the Dutchmen during the regular-season. Saturday will be the fourth meeting between the programs for the C'Wealth 'Ship. Messiah has won the previous three, while LVC is looking for its first-ever Commonwealth plaque.
“Lebanon Valley is a great team,” Miller said of the Dutchmen, ranked 15th in the latest USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll and 17th in the most recent D3hoops.com ballot. “We're viewing it as, we have to win to get into the NCAA Tournament. We like being the underdogs. It's a position that we haven't been in a lot, so we're enjoying the freedom that comes with it.”
Saturday's winner will receive an automatic bid into the upcoming NCAA Tournament. The loser will have to wait until Monday's selection show to find out if an at-large berth is in the cards. Saturday's game time is set for 1 p.m.
