(Statistics for this game were reported late.)

Washington, DC - Messiah College fell 57-46 to Catholic University in their season-opener on Saturday afternoon.

The Cardinals went up early 12-5 on Messiah before the Falcons cut their deficit to 15-13 with 5:23 left in the first-half. Balanced scoring and shooting helped the Falcons back into the game, with three-pointers from both Sienna Wisse and Libby Timmer.

With just over two minutes to play before the break a driving layup by Kaitlyn Hoff tied the game at 15-15, but the Cardinals rolled off seven-straight points to go again go in front. A finish in the paint by Michelle DeSantis with three seconds left in the half put Catholic up 26-17.

Messiah did not get closer than nine points for the rest of the afternoon, and trailed by as many as 19 points. Still, the Falcons exhibited toughness down stretch with a 14-6 run to end the game.

"We had some growing pains against a very good Catholic team," said head coach Mike Miller, commenting on his young team's performance. "But we did exhibit some typcial Messiah play; we fought hard to the end.

"I thought we also rebounded well and defended well in certain stretches. We'll need to keep improving as the season pushes forward."

Timmer led the Falcons with 10 points on 4-8 shooting. Gillian Glackin scored six points and grabbed 10 rebounds, but was held to just 1-7 shooting from the field. Hoff and Wisse each scored eight points.

The loss dropped Messiah to 0-1 on the season, while Catholic moved to 1-0.

The Falcons will next play on Tuesday, Nov. 18 when they host Washington Adventist at 7:00 p.m.