GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah College women's basketball team picked up right where they left off and secured another win by defeating Waynesburg University, 76-51 on Friday evening. The Falcons are now 2-0 on the season and have a quick turnaround to play again tomorrow evening against SUNY Geneseo.

Leah Springer continued to thrive offensively for the Falcons. Springer had a career-high night by scoring 24 points and collecting 13 rebounds. Kaitlyn Hoff was the only other Falcon in double-figures with 14 points and dished out four assists. Kristen Smoluk and Becca Isaac each added nine points and Maci Thornton contributed eight.

On the evening, Messiah shot 42% from the field, 40% from deep range, and 71.4% from the free throw line. Waynesburg went 18 for 55 from the field (32.7%) and struggled from three point range only shooting 23.1% (3-13).

Hot Start for the Falcons
Messiah once again had a solid start to the game, going on a 9-1 run before Waynesburg could get in any rhythm offensively. Leah Springer started things off for the Falcons by taking the ball coast-to-coast and converting on a fast break. She then went on to score the next seven points for Messiah to give them an eight point lead, only three and a half minutes into the game. Messiah continued to build upon their advantage and headed into the second quarter with a 10 point (19-9) lead over the Yellow Jackets.

Early in the second quarter, Kristen Smoluk produced back-to-back buckets to give Messiah a 25-11 advantage. Waynesburg had a tough time defending Messiah's speed and protecting inside the key. Ten of the Falcons' 16 second quarter points came from lay-ups inside the paint.

The Falcons scored 35 total points in the first half and held the Yellow Jackets to a mere 18 points.  Leah Springer and Kaitlyn Hoff led Messiah offensively in the first two quarters collecting 15 and 14 points, respectively.

Falcons Soar to Victory
Waynesburg came out of half-time ready to cut into Messiah's lead. They went on a short 5-0 run, until Leah Springer took a trip to the free-throw line and knocked down two shots to once again ignite Messiah's offense. With just over 6 minutes left in the quarter, Kristen Smoluk and Leah Springer hit back-to-back threes to extend Messiah's lead to 20 points (45-24). Minutes later, Maci Thornton and Becca Isaac followed Springer and Smoluk's lead and also knocked down back-to-back threes to give Messiah their biggest advantage of the night, 54-27.

The fourth quarter consisted of a lot of back-and-forth action and the Yellow Jackets actually outscored Messiah, 20-18. With the Falcons having such a big lead going into the fourth quarter, Waynesburg did not have a chance to get back into the game. The Falcons soared to a 76-51 victory and picked up their second win of the year.

In the second half of play, Leah Springer and Becca Isaac each contributed nine points for the Falcons, Maci Thornton added eight, and Jen Fairbanks scored five.
 
Defense Wins Games
Although the Yellow Jackets out rebounded Messiah 47 to 40, the Falcon's defense is what allowed them to have such a successful game. Messiah's defense caused 24 turnovers in which they were able to score 14 points off of. However, Messiah's scrappy defensive play did get them into some foul trouble. Messiah was called for 23 fouls and six of their players finished the game with three or more. Messiah's intensity and aggressive defensive play is definitely a strength that they will want to carry throughout the season. The Falcon's guards put a lot of pressure on their opponents and that showed on the stats sheet. Kaitlyn Hoff and Becca Isaac each gathered three steals for  Messiah, Leah Springer had two, and Kristen Smoluk, Maci Thornton, and Hannah Brown each had one.

Next Up
As mentioned, Messiah is now 2-0 on the season and the Falcons will be back in action tomorrow evening at 5:00 p.m. Messiah will take on SUNY Geneseo in game two of the Hampton Inn Tip-Off Classic.