Williamsport, PA – Messiah College saw Lycoming erase a double-digit second-half deficit to rally past the Falcons and win 49-46 on Wednesday night. Gillian Glackin totaled 15 points and nine rebounds in the game, with Jen Fairbanks adding 12 points.
 
The loss drops Messiah to 3-4 overall, including 1-1 in the Commonwealth Conference.
 
The Falcons led 27-22 early in the second-half before they put together an 8-2 run. Hannah Nichols' fastbreak jumper in the paint sealed the streak and gave Messiah a 35-24 advantage—their largest lead of the night—with 14:56 to play.
 
But Lycoming responded in stunning fashion. They scored the game's next 12 points, with Chelsea Henderson contributing five of her own to give the hosts a 36-35 lead with 7:54 on the clock. The Falcons missed six-straight shots and committed five turnovers over that period of time. A free-throw by Jocelyn Chavous ended the drought for Messiah and made it 36-36 with 7:44 to go.
 
From that point forward the teams traded baskets and free-throws, with three ties and five lead changes taking place. A pair of free-throws by Shelby Mueller put Lycoming up 47-46 with 1:20 left, but Messiah stayed within a single point for the next 61 seconds.
 
Trailing by the same score with 19 seconds left, Messiah called a timeout to set up their sideline play. A jump ball by Lycoming kept the ball with Messiah, but this time they inbounded with from under the basket with 12 seconds.
 
The Falcons executed their play perfectly, and appeared to have Dominique Seamon wide open on the block for the go-ahead score, but a deflection by Henderson on the inbounder saved the game for Lycoming.
 
Messiah's ensuing inbounds pass was forced to the wing, where Sienna Wisse's long jumper went off the rim and to the Warriors.
 
Nicole Calella hit only one of two free-throws with two seconds remaining, but Messiah turned it over on a full-court inbounds pass. Two more points from the line sealed the game for Lycoming with just a second left.
 
The defeat was especially hard for Messiah considering their large lead in the second-half. But more than that, they followed an 11-24 shooting performance (46%) in the first-half with a 4-18 showing (22%) after the break. They also turned the ball over 22 times on the night, with 19 of the Warriors' points coming off those giveaways.

"We showed tonight that we're not where we need to be with finishing off games," Messiah head coach Mike Miller said. "Our missed shots and unforced turnovers crushed us."
 
Fairbanks added three boards to her 12 points, while Nichols finished with seven points and eight rebounds.
 
Mueller led Lycoming with 13 points, while Calella scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds. Henderson also scored 11 points for the Warriors.
 
The loss ended a 17-game win streak by Messiah over Lycoming, and dropped the Falcons to 1-1 in the Commonwealth. Lycoming improved to 6-1 overall, with the same 1-1 record as Messiah in the conference.

"Lycoming has a very good team," MIller said. "They scrapped tonight and made the plays they needed to for the win. We need to learn from this game and look forward to a big one this weekend."
 
The Falcons will look to get back in the win column on Saturday, Dec. 6 when they travel to Widener University for a 4:00 tip-off.