Box Score
Aston, PA – Finding themselves trailing Neumann University 13-10 after just six minutes into Tuesday's first half, Messiah College ran off 11-straight points en route to a 41-28 halftime lead. Twenty minutes later—a period that saw the Falcons shoot 63% from the field—Messiah finished off an impressive 86-59 victory.
Senior forward
Dori Gyori led the Falcons with a game-high 17 points on 6-10 shooting, including a 5-6 showing at the free-throw line.
Kira Maier and
Taylor Miller each added 16 points, with Miller hitting 4-6 from downtown.
Junior
Chelsea Danel added 12 points for the Falcons, adding to Messiah's hot shooting with a 5-7 performance from the field.
The win for Messiah moves them to 3-0, as they followed up their tip-off tournament championship with their highest scoring output since an 88-25 win over Baptist Bible on Jan. 7, 2012.
"We really moved the ball great tonight," Messiah head coach
Mike Miller said. "We were patient and clam, and took advantage when we could."
Messiah missed their first three field goal attempts on Tuesday at Neumann, starting 1-6 from the floor as they went down 13-10 early. But Gyori started the Falcons 11-0 run with a three-point play the old fashioned way, with Danel soon following with a driving layup to put the Falcons up 15-13. A few possessions later, an offensive rebound led to two made three-throws for senior
Katelyn Vanderhoff, with Gyori knocking in a jumper on the next possession.
Maier then hit a pair of her own free-throws to complete the 11-point streak—earned in exactly 3:30 of time.
Now ahead by eight points, Messiah's lead never fell below six points as they eventually opened a 13-point halftime lead. The Falcons shot a solid 46% from the field in the first half, a mark blown away by their 63% shooting in the second half.
The Falcons hot shooting was aided by close and quality looks, as they attempted just eight three-pointers in the game. As mentioned, Miller took six of those attempts, knocking down four of them for 12 of her 16 points. Additionally, the Falcons shot an impressive 24-27 from the charity stripe, as their close looks often resulted in chances for points from the free-throw line.
The Falcons also collected 38 points off Knights' 26 turnovers on Friday, as their strong defensive play forced at least 26 turnovers for the second time in three games this season.
"This was a little bit of a strange game, because nothing really felt easy despite the outcome," Miller said. "(Neumann) battled, but we managed to keep scoring and create separation. Our guard play was really great in the first half and, really, everyone was good tonight."
Ranked No. 14 in the most recent USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll, the Falcons had 11 different players score at least one point on Tuesday, as no player played more than 28 minutes.
The loss drops Neumann University 0-3 on the season. They were led in scoring by Erica Marvel and JoHanna Metzger, both of whom finished with 11 points.
Oddly enough, the Falcons were outrebounded in the game 30-27, no doubt the result of less missed shots by both teams. Messiah finished the game with 55% shooting from the field; Neumann shot 45% from the field.
As mentioned, the win moves Messiah to 3-0 as they will return from Thanksgiving break for a highly-anticipated match-up with No. 9 Lebanon Valley College on Wednesday, Nov. 28. The tip-off will be at 6:00 p.m., in the Dutchmen's area in Annville, Pa.
"We're really pleased with where we're at right now," Miller said. "We're going to get our legs under us this week and come back next week ready to train hard and get better."
