Grantham, PA – Kaitlyn Hoff matched a career-high with 22 points and Gillian Glackin added 12 points and 12 rebounds to lead Messiah College to a 59-49 upset of No. 14 Albright College on Saturday afternoon. The win was Messiah's sixth in a row while Albright lost for just the second time this season.
 
The win for Messiah also pushed them to a 4-1 mark and a tie with Albright atop the MAC Commonwealth standings.
 
Saturday's match-up was the most highly-anticipated conference game thus far in the season; Albright came into the game with a 12-1 record while Messiah has been playing as well over the last few weeks as any point in the past two seasons. The action started quickly for both teams, but it was the Falcons' hot shooting that put them up early.
 
The Falcons hit their first three shots and six of their first 10 attempts, and a 9-3 run to end the first quarter gave them a 19-11 lead. Hoff scored eight points alone in the frame, and Messiah also received some fortune when Albright's Kelecia Harris picked up two fouls in the first 2:11 of the game.
 
With Harris out Albright was unable to generate consistent offense, and a cold shooting performance in the first-half from starters Jane Joyce (1-3), Alysha Lofton (1-4), and Nina Mazzarelli (0-5) made it difficult for the Lions to keep pace.
 
Despite Albright's cold shooting, it was until late in the second quarter that Messiah really grabbed control of the game. With 2:12 to play and Albright's zone defense seemingly close to forcing a shot clock violation, a three-pointer by Hannah Brown beat the buzzer and put the Falcons up 31-20. Moments later and with the game clock winding down, Kaitlyn Hoff buried a three-pointer from the right side to send Messiah into the break with a 34-20 advantage.
 
Hoff had 12 points at the half, and Glackin had eight points and five rebounds. Messiah also had just four turnovers through the first 20 minutes, nine giveways less than Albright.
 
In the second-half Messiah led by double-digits until the final seconds, though it certainly felt like a closer contest. Nevertheless Messiah came up with big play after big play. One such moment came with just over two minutes on the clock in the third quarter after Albright cut their deficit to 43-29. The Falcons executed against the Lions' zone deep into their shot clock to set-up a long three-pointer by Maci Thornton.
 
At the start of the fourth quarter Albright again drew with 14 points but Hoff answered with her second three-pointer of the game. Albright trailed by double-digits until there were just eight seconds to play, and a quick pass over the press led to a final bucket by Jen Fairbanks to seal the win.
 
The win for Messiah ended a short three-game losing streak to the Lions, all of which came last season.
 
As mentioned, Hoff finished with 22 points to lead all scorers. She added three steals while Glackin's double-double was her fifth of the season. Fairbanks finished with eight points and three boards and Alecia Rohrer added seven points, four rebounds, and three blocks.
 
Albright was led by Kelecia Harris' 11 points, nine of which came after halftime. Alysha Lofton scored 10 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. The Lions finished with just 17-60 (28%) from the field including 1-15 (7%) from three-point range. Most notable among the rough shooting performances was Mazzarelli finished 1-11 from three-point range after entering the game with 43% mark on the season.
 
Messiah will look to keep their strong play going when they travel Hood College next Wednesday, Jan. 13.