GRANTHAM, Pa. – No. 17 Messiah College women's basketball picked up their first MAC Commonwealth victory against Lycoming College on Wednesday evening. The Falcons who are also ranked No. 21 in the d3hoops poll, defeated the Warriors 78-74 and remain undefeated on the season with a record of 5-0.
 
The exciting game came down to the wire but Messiah's free-throw shooting allowed them to secure the win down the stretch. Messiah shot an impressive 82.9% from the free throw line and shot 32.8% from the field. Lycoming shot 43.3% from the field and 64.7% from the field. The Warriors owned the glass for a majority of the game and out-rebounded Messiah 50-36.
 
Leah Springer had another career-high night, she collected 28 points for Messiah and grabbed 15 rebounds. Maci Thornton added 17 points and six rebounds, while Kaitlyn Hoff scored 12. Kristen Smoluk was the other Falcon in double-figures and she scored 11 of her own.
 
Messiah Takes an Early Lead
The Falcons started the first quarter strong and steady. Kaitlyn Hoff helped Messiah go on a 7-0 run after completing a three-point play at the free-throw line. Messiah had an early 8-2 lead and held onto that advantage throughout the entire first quarter. Maci Thornton led the Falcons with eight of her ten first half points, including a lay-up at the buzzer to give Messiah a comfortable 17-12 lead going into the second quarter.
 
Warriors Dominates Second Quarter
The Warriors outscored the Falcons 22-17 and tied the game up three different times going into the halftime break. Lycoming also dominated the glass the entire first half, out-rebounding Messiah 26-14, 12 of those were on the offensive end. The Warriors first tied the game at 19-19 after Kayla Kline hit a three-pointer. Messiah then went on a 7-1 run but Lycoming quickly put an end to that. The Warriors slowly began chipping away at Messiah's lead and scored 12 points in the paint and seven of those were off second chance opportunities. Akilah McFadden scored a lay-up with 38 seconds remaining to tie the game at 34-34 heading into the half-time break.
 
Back-and-Forth Action
Messiah and Lycoming came out of half-time ready to work. Maci Thornton started things off by draining a three-pointer to give Messiah an early 37-34 lead. The Warriors answered Thornton's big shot by scoring back-to-back buckets to take a 38-37 lead over the Falcons. The third quarter consisted of a lot of back-and-forth action, in fact the lead changed six different times in the ten-minute quarter. The Warriors earned their biggest lead of the game when Kayla Kline scored a fast break layup to give Lycoming a four-point (43-39) lead with 7:38 remaining in the quarter. Messiah quickly took back the lead after Kaitlyn Hoff hit a pair of free-throws and then Leah Springer finished a three-point play at the line to give the Falcons a 44-43 lead. Springer led the Falcons with nine points in the third quarter and Kaitlyn Hoff added seven. Messiah headed into the fourth and final quarter with an one-point advantage (53-52).
 
Free-Throws Secure Victory
The fourth quarter was very similar to the third, it was a battle. Both teams got into early foul trouble, but Messiah was clutch from the stripe going 15 of 19 in the final ten minutes. Early in the quarter, Hannah Brown knocked down a deep three to give Messiah a four-point lead but Lycoming began to cut into that advantage. Midway through the quarter, the Warriors hit back-to-back threes to take a 62-60 lead over Messiah. Jen Fairbanks started the trips to the line for the Falcons and tied the game up at 62-62. For every pair of free throws Messiah hit, Lycoming would bring the ball down and answer with a lay-up or jumper to stay in the game. With 1:19 remaining in the game, the Falcons trailed the Warriors 69-71, Leah Springer ripped down an offensive board and found Kristen Smoluk spotting up for a three at the top of the arc. Springer kicked out the pass and Smoluk hit the shot to give Messiah a 72-71 lead. Lycoming's star player, Kayla Kline took matters into her own hands and drove to get the bucket and the foul, she would go on to complete the three-point play to regain the lead, 74-72. Maci Thornton found her way to the free-throw line and once again tied things up at 74-74 with 43 seconds left in the ball game. Leah Springer and Jen Fairbanks also took trips to the line at the end of the game after making big-time steals to give Messiah the 78-74 advantage with only one second left on the clock.
 
As previously mentioned, this win is the first conference win for Messiah and they moved to 5-0 on the season. Lycoming moved to 4-2 overall and 0-1 in the MAC Commonwealth. Kayla Kline had an outstanding game for the Warriors. She scored 22 points and collected 10 rebounds for Lycoming.
 
Next Up
Messiah will be back in action this Friday, Dec. 1st. The Falcons will travel to Lancaster Bible College and will tip-off against the Chargers at 7:00 p.m.