Grantham, PA- No. 24 Messiah College Women's basketball team picked up their first win of 2017 by defeating Dickinson College 62-41 in Brubaker Auditorium on Tuesday evening. The Falcons continued their win streak and moved to 12-0 on the season, which is a program-record.

Alecia Rohrer led all scorers with 16 points, Maci Thornton contributed 12 and Gillian Glackin scored 11 and also collected four rebounds. Leah Springer gathered eight of Messiah's 26 rebounds and Kaitlyn Hoff delivered seven assists on the evening.

The Falcons had a slow start in the first quarter and were trailing by as many as eight points (16-8) but with just under two minutes remaining, Messiah's offense sparked after Rohrer, Thornton, and Springer all had back-to-back-to-back lay-ups to cut the Red Devil's lead to two points. The first quarter was the only quarter in which Dickinson scored double figures with 16 points.

The Falcons came out strong in the second quarter and wasted no time taking the lead from the Red Devils. With just under a minute into the quarter, Maci Thornton knocked down a triple and on the very next possession, Alecia Rohrer banked in a left-handed shot off the glass to give the Falcons a 19-18 lead; their first lead of the game. The Falcons continued to push the tempo and converted several fast break layups. Messiah was able to get to the free-throw line 10 times in the quarter and converted nine of those shots (90%). The second quarter was the biggest offensive quarter of the night for the Falcons; they scored 22 points and held Dickinson to nine points. Glackin and Rohrer led Messiah in scoring after the first half with 10 and eight, respectively.

At the start of the third quarter, Messiah led 36-25 and continued to extend that lead throughout the second half. Although Messiah was converting shots, what was more impressive to watch was their defensive efforts. The Falcons displayed exceptional defense and they only allowed the Red Devils to score 16 points in the second half. Messiah's defensive pressure created 30 Red Devil turnovers and the Falcons were able to convert 29 points off of turnovers in the game. Messiah collected 15 steals on the evening, Glackin and Hoff each with three, and rejected six shots, Glackin also contributed two of those blocked shots.

Although coming into tonight's game ranked 5th in the nation in three-point percentage, the Falcons only shot 12.5% (2-16) from the arc. Fortunately, Messiah made up for that by shooting 23 for 46 (41.1%) from the field and 14 for 17 (82.4%) from the free-throw line, they are currently first in the nation in free-throw percentage (80.3%). The Red Devils shot 16 for 40 (40%) from the field, 3 for 11 (27.3%) from three-point range, and 6 for 8 (75%) from the free-throw line. Mary Martin led the Red Devils in scoring with eight points and collected three steals.
 
Messiah will next play on Jan. 5 as they take on MAC Commonwealth opponent, Stevenson University, at 7:30 p.m. in Brubaker Auditorium.