Reading, PA – Messiah College used a 26-10 second quarter to power past host Alvernia University on Saturday afternoon, 72-38. Jen Fairbanks and Alecia Rohrer each scored a game-high 14 points to help Messiah end a two-game losing streak and improve to 7-3 in the MAC Commonwealth.
 
Rohrer and Fairbanks grabbed eight and seven rebounds, respectively, while Gillian Glackin collected a game-high 14 boards to go along with four points. Dominique Seamon added 11 points and hit three of Messiah's season-high 11 three-pointers.
 
The teams were tied 8-8 after a sluggish first quarter that included a combined 6-31 shooting from the field. One of the few made baskets, a two-point jumper by Chelsea Ebersole, tied the game up to end the quarter.
 
In stark contrast to the game's first 10 minutes, Messiah and Alvernia combined for 36 points in the second quarter. Falcons' fans were especially satisfied considering the bulk of those points were scored by the visitor. The offensive streak was keyed by a 9-0 run to start the frame and, with less than five minutes to play, a three-pointer by Dominique Seamon gave the Falcons a 20-10 advantage.
 
Alvernia responded to come within 20-15, but Messiah then scored 14 more points in the final three minutes before halftime. Twelve of those points came off of buckets from downtown, with Maci Thornton hitting on two attempts and both Seamon and Fairbanks hitting on the others. The hot shooting helped Messiah to a 34-16 lead at the half.
 
Fairbanks led all scorers at the break with nine points, with Seamon and Thornton each adding six points. In total Messiah shot just 30% from the field in the first 20 minutes, but they did well to hit six of nine attempts from three-point range.
 
In the third quarter Messiah continued to increase their lead, with Alecia Rohrer scoring six points of her own. A balanced effort wore down the Crusader defense and the Falcons' defense also did much to keep Alvernia from getting comfortable at their own end. By the end of the third quarter Messiah even had 16-8 edge in points of turnovers.
 
Messiah repeated both their offensive and defensive outputs in the fourth quarter (19-10) to run away with the win. As mentioned, they finished with a season-high 11 three-pointers, with six different players hitting at least one shot from deep.
 
Glackin's 14 rebounds matched a season-high set in the Falcons' first game of the season, and Messiah won the rebounding battle by a season-high 21 boards (50-29). They also matched a season-low with just 13 turnovers.
 
With the win Messiah kept pace on the No. 2 spot in the MAC Commonwealth as they entered the day with an identical record as both Lycoming and Stevenson. Messiah will look to build a win streak when they travel to Lycoming on Wednesday, Feb. 3.