Grantham, PA - The Messiah women's basketball team moved to 7-0 on the season with their 85-53 win over the Lancaster Bible College Chargers on Monday evening. The Falcons and Chargers battled back and forth in the first and second quarters, but Messiah was able to control the tempo after halftime and soared to a victory. Messiah shot 57.6% from the field and six Falcons scored double figures.  Kaitlyn Hoff led the team in scoring with 14 points, Becca Isaac and Maci Thornton had 12 each, Jen Fairbanks contributed 11, and both Leah Springer and Gillian Glackin finished with 10.

The Falcons struggled to find their rhythm offensively in the first two quarters of the game and they also encountered difficulty with taking care of the ball; in which they had 10 of their 15 turnovers. Although things did not seem to be connecting, the Falcons did not allow that to discourage them or to affect the effort that they displayed on the court.

The Falcons started the game with two quick layups and Maci Thornton had a pair of steals, but the Chargers showed that they were prepared to battle. LBC did a phenomenal job crashing the boards in the first two quarters and out-rebounded the Falcons 23-14. Messiah was leading the whole first quarter, but early in the second the Chargers were able to tie the game up at 15-15 after Courtney Goyak knocked down a free-throw. LBC tied the score up three different times in the second quarter (15-15, 17-17, 19-19), but were never able to take the lead from the Falcons. The turning point in the second quarter was when there was 4:00 minutes left on the clock and Becca Isaac converted a three-pointer off of Hoff's pass and then the very next possession finished a layup in the paint. Isaac stepped up big for the Falcons and scored nine of her 12 points in the first two quarters to give the Falcons a 34-28 lead going into halftime.

"Run the offense through to get us in a rhythm to shoot the ball," was Coach Miller's message to his team at halftime. He also told them to, "keep holding each other up," and that was very evident in the Falcons body language and attitudes throughout the game as there was a lot of encouragement coming from the squad.

Messiah came out in the third quarter aggressive, tenacious, and looked ready to control the pace of the game. Although they picked up three quick fouls, they did not let that affect their play and they started to pull away. With just under four minutes remaining in the third quarter, Jen Fairbanks knocked down a quick jumper and on the next defensive play Glackin blocked a shot that led to a fastbreak, coast-to-coast layup by Kaitlyn Hoff, which extended Messiah's lead to 12 points (48-36). The Falcons hot streak did not stop there.  With less than 2:30 remaining in the third, Leah Springer made back-to-back layups and Fairbanks extended the lead even more by knocking down a three-pointer. In the fourth quarter, the Falcons dominated, continued to build upon their lead, and played superb defense; holding the Chargers to only eight points. Alecia Rohrer was outstanding on the glass in the second half, collecting six of her 10 rebounds. The Falcons outscored the Chargers 51-25 in the second half of the game and shot 23 for 30 (76.67%) from the field.

Messiah's aggressive and scrappy defense paid off and it was a big reason as to why they were so successful offensively in the second half. Both Thornton and Glackin had three steals each, and five other Falcons had two apiece. Messiah was able to use the Charger's 31 turnovers to their advantage and had 41 points off of turnovers alone. Glackin also had four blocks on the night, Alecia Rohrer, Kristen Smoluk, and Leah Springer each had one.

As mentioned before, the Falcons move to 7-0 and this is the sixth game in a row they have outscored their opponent by 30 points or more. Lancaster Bible, who is coached by former Falcon Katelyn Vanderhoff, had an impressive evening with two Chargers receiving double-doubles. Caitlin Hickey led all scorers with 23 points and collected 10 rebounds, while Courtney Goyak had 13 points and 15 rebounds.

The Falcons are on the road Dec. 7 as they take on MAC Commonwealth opponent Arcadia University at 6:00 p.m.