Grantham, PA - The Messiah College women's basketball team moved to 4-0 on the season with their 88-55 win over the Eastern Eagles on Tuesday night in Brubaker Auditorium.
Kaitlyn Hoff led all scorers with 22 points,
Maci Thornton had an impressive night with 17 points, seven steals, five assists and five rebounds,
Gillian Glackin scored 12 points, had three steals and five rebounds, and
Alecia Rohrer contributed 10 points and nine boards. The Falcons shot 30-59 (50.8%) from the field, 6-11 (54.5%) from three-point range, and 22-27 (81.5%) from the free throw line.
After losing to Eastern last year 72-56, the Messiah Women's basketball team came out ready to battle and focused on utilizing their strengths to get the outcome they have been getting all season thus far. The Falcons and Eagles exchanged baskets early in the first quarter but with a minute left; Messiah began to extend their lead. Rohrer had back-to-back blocks which led to a successful layup by Thornton. After another solid defensive stop, Rohrer grabbed the defensive rebound with 11 seconds left on the clock, moved the ball forward to
Hannah Brown where she hit a three-pointer with one second remaining to give the Falcons a nine-point lead going into the second quarter.
Messiah started the second quarter strong by playing very aggressive on the defensive end, crashing the boards hard, and finishing at the free throw line, which allowed them to go on a 16-2 run in just four minutes. The Falcons ended the first half holding Eastern to only 19 points. Thornton displayed a tremendous defensive effort in the first half of the game, in which she received six of her seven steals. Messiah's defense also held Emily Lavin, Eastern's top scorer, to only two points in the first half.
The Falcons came out of half-time resilient with Hoff scoring an early jumper and Glackin finishing back-to-back layups. The third quarter was all Falcons; they outscored the Eagles 34-15. Thornton had another solid quarter with ten points, two assists and a steal. In the fourth quarter, the Falcons picked up where they left off; with a quick layup by Hoff they extended their lead to 44 points (78-34). The Eagles started chipping away at Messiah's lead in the fourth and outscored the Falcons 21-12, but Messiah still held on and defeated Eastern by 33 points (88-55).
In the past four games, Messiah has displayed a well-balanced offense and a lot of depth on their roster and tonight was no different with five Falcons scoring double-figures;
Hoff with 22 points, Thornton with 17, Glackin with 12, Rohrer and
Leah Springer with 10 each. Messiah's bench outscored Eastern's bench by eight points (25-17) and the Falcons defense created 20 turnovers and out rebounded the Eagles 41-33.
Following the Thanksgiving break, the Falcons will be back in action on Nov.30 in Brubaker Auditorium. They will take on their first MAC Commonwealth opponent Lycoming College at 6:00 p.m. and the men's game will follow at 8:00 p.m.