Grantham, PA - Washington Adventist built an early lead and never trailed en route to a 52-44 win over Messiah College. Courtney Cayard led the Shock with 22 points and shot 6-9 from downtown. Gillian Glackin led the Falcons with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

The Shock took an early 10-4 lead and Courtney Cayard soon hit back-to-back three-pointers to put Washington Adventist ahead 16-6. With under eight minutes to play Sienna Wisse hit from beyond the arc to cut the Falcons' deficit to 20-13. A minute later Kaitlyn Hoff hit a pair of free-throws to make 20-15.

With four minutes to play before the half Dominique Seamon hit a three-pointer to again bring Messiah within five points (25-20), and Glackin then scored four straigh to make it 25-24. But the Shock responded loudly by way of a 8-0 run to end the half, with a three from Cayard exclamating the streak with just six seconds to play.

In the second-half Messiah trailed by as many as 17 points (43-26) but they went 12-0 run to draw within 43-38 with 10:59 to play. Six different Falcons scored two points in that run, with Wisse's jumper ending it.

The teams traded baskets for the next six minutes before Natalie Harrison's driving layup with 4:07 pushed the Shock ahead 50-44. Over next three minutes the Falcons held Washington without a point, but they missed four shots and turned the ball over twice on six possessions and could not inch closer. All told, the Falcons missed their final six shots and fell 52-44.

"This game showed that we have a number of things to work on," head coach Mike Miller said. "We certainly did some good things out there, but we turned the ball over too much and did not put ourselves in a position to win the game.

"We need to get better and I think we will do just that."

The Falcons shot just 23.3% (14-60) from the field, though they did hit 14-17 free-throws. The Shock shot just 38.9% from the field, but they hit seven of their 15 three-pointers.

Dominique Seamon and Wisse each added five points, while Hannah Nichols scored four points and handed out three assists. Kaitlyn Hoff also handed out three assists for Messiah.

The loss dropped Messiah to 0-2 on the season. They will next play on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. when they host the University of Pitt-Greensburg in the Hampton Inn Tip-Off Classic.

More on this story to follow...