Box Score
Grantham, PA - After getting a break from play for the Christmas holiday, the Messiah College Falcons returned to Brubaker Auditorium and continued their impressive start to the 2012-13 season with a 71--50 victory over the Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins University.
Junior
Taylor Miller's 21 points paced the Falcons and led all scorers in the contest. Miller went 5-of-6 from beyond the arc.
Senior
Dori Gyori added 14 points and seven rebounds to her season totals, while classmate
Kira Maier chipped in 13 points of her own and led the team with nine steals.
The Falcons (11-1) set the tone early by forcing four Blue Jay turnovers and scoring nine unanswered points in the opening five minutes of play to take the 11-2 lead. The Blue Jays (4-8) made every effort to chip away at their early deficit, but the one-two punch of solid defense and sharp outside shooting from Messiah made this endeavor next to impossible.
With less than seven minutes to play in the first half, Messiah extended their lead to double figures on back-to-back three-pointers from Miller and senior
Nicky Hess, yet it was the Falcons's inside game that delivered the biggest blow to the Blue Jays.
In the final five minutes of the half, Gyori, Maier, and sophomore
Hannah Nichols dominated the paint to combine for nine points and helped the Falcons to a 37-18 lead going into the locker room.
"Johns Hopkins is a big team and I think we handled them really well," head coach
Mike Miller said. "Dori [Gyori] did a great job against their best player tonight [referring to senior forward Nicole Vassila who averages 11.7 points a game and leads the Blue Jays with 19 blocks
]. We made the necessary adjustments to be successful inside."
Messiah's defense held Vassila to just four points and forced 25 Blue Jay turnovers throughout the game, which the Falcons converted into 31 points.
"We were very focused and played with purpose on defense tonight," Miller said. "Offensively our shooting was great. It was nice to have a cushion going into the second half. This gave us the opportunity to give a lot of players more experience."
In the second half, the Falcons' defensive tenacity never wavered, forcing five more Blue Jay turnovers in the first five minutes. Messiah converted those turnovers into six points and extended their lead to 27.
In the next three possessions, Hopkins brought their deficit back down to 21, but it was Miller who foiled any plan of a comeback. With under 13 minutes to play, Miller erupted for 11 consecutive points for the Falcons, netting back-to-back-to-back three-pointers and a jumper to maintain a comfortable 24 point lead.
Messiah's greatest lead came with 5:46 to play when senior
Megan Shipe drained a 20-plus-footer for three more points and the 66-36 advantage.
Despite the lead, the Falcons continued to play aggressively for the remainder of the game. In the final minute of play, the quick hands of freshman
Dominique Seamon forced a turnover of which she convereted into a swift layup and a three-point play after sinking her free throw.
Freshman
Deanna Eyerkuss concluded the scoring for the Falcons with 21 seconds to play, nabbing her first collegiate points off of a baseline jumper and securing the 71-50 victory.
Messiah shot 45.9% from the field, 53.8% from three-point land, and went 8 for 12 in free throws. Defensively, the Falcons forced 25 turnovers and came up with 20 steals.
"Chelsea [Danel] set the tone for us on defense and Kira [Maier] was all over the place getting nine steals," Miller said. "
. . Taylor's [Miller] shooting was outstanding and Dori [Gyori] was really good inside. As a whole, we played well and I'm really pleased with our performance tonight."
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The Falcons return to Commonwealth Conference play on Saturday when they travel to Reading, Pa. to take on the Crusaders of Alvernia University. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m.
