Grantham, PA - The Messiah College women's basketball team took an early lead and never looked back, flying to an 86-66 victory over the Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins University. Jen Fairbanks led the way with 14 points and five rebounds, and the low-post duo of Alecia Rohrer and Gillian Glackin collected nine and eight boards, respectively, as well as 3 blocks each.

The Falcons shot 41.6% from the field (32 of 77) and went an impressive 15 of 24 from behind the three-point line (62.5%). This was a new women's basketball record, and just as notably the 15 three pointers were scored by eight different Falcons. Over half of the Messiah scoring output came from the bench, as they outscored the Blue Jays' reserves 52-33. The Falcons were also great from the charity stripe, going 7-8 (87.5%).

The Falcons started the game trading buckets back and forth with the Blue Jays, but at the 5:17 minute mark in the first quarter, Messiah pulled ahead and never looked back. Hannah Brown, Kaitlyn Hoff, and Maci Thornton hit five collective three pointers in the first, which gave them a 10 point lead (26-16) going into the second quarter.   

In the second quarter, the Falcons continued to build upon their lead. A layup from Jocelyn Chavous and two successful free throws from Rohrer early in the quarter extended the Falcons lead to 14 (30-16). The Falcons hot streak remained throughout the second quarter, when Jen Fairbanks, Becca Isaac, Kristen Smoluk, and Leah Springer all connected from behind the arc. Springer, in her first career game as a Falcon, led the team in scoring in the first half with nine points.  The Falcons finished the first half of the game 49-36 and looked to extend that lead in the third and fourth quarters.

Early in the third quarter, Gillian Glackin showed her defensive presence in the paint with back to back blocks, and during the remainder of the game the Falcons proved to be successful both on the offensive and defensive ends. The team ran a well balanced offense in tonight's contest; 11 players scored over four points for the Falcons, Rohrer and Smoluk distributed four assists each, and Hoff collected three.

Fairbanks, Springer, and Brown came off the bench and led the team in scoring, with 14, 11, and nine points, respectively. Glackin, Hoff, Isaac, and Rohrer each contributed eight points, and Thornton finished with six. 

Messiah next takes the court at the St. Mary's Tournament in Maryland this weekend. They first play on Friday at 7:00 p.m., opponent TBD.