GRANTHAM, Pa. –  No. 21 Messiah College women's basketball continued their win-streak after defeating Eastern University, 76-62, on Tuesday evening. The Falcons remain undefeated on the season and moved to 4-0. With the win over the Eagles, head coach Mike Miller picked up his 600th career win. Miller became the 15th coach in NCAA Division III history to reach 600 wins, and also the sixth active coach to reach the mark.
 
The Falcons struggled offensively in the first half, but turned things around in the second. Overall, Messiah shot 46.3% from the field, 47.4% from three-point range, and 89.5% from the free-throw line. The Eagles shot 49% from the field, an impressive 71.4% from deep, and 87.5% from the line. Messiah out-rebounded Eastern 32-26 and scored 20 points off of the Eagles' 17 turnovers. 
 
Kaitlyn Hoff and Leah Springer led the Falcons offensively by each scoring 23 points. Springer also collected her second double-double of the season by ripping down 13 rebounds. Hannah Brown added nine points for Messiah and Maci Thornton scored eight. Jen Fairbanks collected six assists for the Falcons, three of those coming in the third quarter.
 
Strong First Quarter
Messiah outscored the Eagles 18-8 in the first quarter of play. The Falcons started off on a 6-2 run led by Kaitlyn Hoff and Leah Springer but Eastern's Taylor Azer hit a big three-pointer to cut into Messiah's lead (6-5). After some sloppy and undisciplined play early in the quarter, the Falcons started to turn things around midway through. Messiah went on a 12-3 run to close out the quarter. The Falcons' run began with three trips to the free throw line from Hoff, Springer, and Maci Thornton. The run continued when Hannah Brown hit a transition three-point field goal to give Messiah a 14-7 lead. Becca Isaac and Kaitlyn Hoff finished the quarter with two easy lay-ins to give Messiah the 18-8 advantage going into the second quarter.
 
Eagles Show Up in Second 
The Eagles started the quarter with a 9-2 run and outscored the Falcons 20-15. They also got within three points of Messiah's lead (23-20). Messiah struggled to find any sort of rhythm offensively in the first five minutes of the quarter and only scored one basket. The last five minutes of the quarter was much more productive for the Falcons. Hannah Brown got things going with a three-pointer at the 4:48 minute mark and Leah Springer went on to collect eight of her 12 first-half points all within three minutes of play. Messiah went into the halftime break with a 33-28 lead over Eastern.
 
Overall, Messiah shot 38.7% from the field and 22.2% from three-point range. Although, Messiah struggled finding their stroke, they were 100% (7-7) from the free-throw line in the first half. Defensively, Messiah collected six steals in the first half and collected 19 rebounds compared to the Eagles' 14. 
 
Quality Ball Movement
Messiah came out of the halftime break displaying patience and demonstrated a lot of selfless play. The Falcons' ball movement was textbook and allowed Messiah to execute offensively. The Falcons outscored Eastern 23-17 in the third quarter were able to cash in four three-point field goals. Kaitlyn Hoff started things off for Messiah by hitting back-to-back three-pointers to give her squad a 43-32 lead with 7:31 left to play. However, midway through the quarter Eastern began chipping away at the Falcon's lead. The Eagles did a great job getting into the paint and finishing at the rim, 12 of their 17 third quarter points came from inside the paint. A jumper by Kristen Smoluk and another three from Hannah Brown gave Messiah some momentum to close out the quarter with a 56-45 advantage.
 
Fight to the Finish
The fourth quarter was a physical one in which the Eagles committed seven fouls in ten minutes of play. A lot of back-and-forth action occurred in the final quarter and Messiah ended up outscoring Eastern 20-17. Maci Thornton hit a big shot at the 2:15 minute mark to give Messiah a 16-point lead (69-53) but it was answered by Eastern's Amber Anderson knocking down a three-pointer of her own. Kaitlyn Hoff finished the quarter out for Messiah, hitting four free-throws and a three-pointer to lead her team to a 76-62 victory.

Up Next
Messiah will be back in action after the Thanksgiving break on Wednesday, Nov. 29. The Falcons will travel to Lycoming College for their first MAC Commonwealth game of the season. The men will play at 6:00 p.m. and the women will follow at 8:00 p.m.