Reading, PA – For just the second time this season Messiah women's basketball lost a game, but for the second time this season it came against the Albright Lions.
 
Saturday's loss, 70-63, dropped the Falcons to 23-2 overall and 14-2 in the MAC Commonwealth, and it locked the Falcons in as the No. 2 seed in next week's conference postseason tournament. Albright moved to 21-4 (16-0) with the win.
 
Kaitlyn Hoff scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Falcons, and Gillian Glackin and Alecia Rohrer each scored 12 points, respectively. But Albright's bench outscored Messiah 31-8 behind 11 points apiece from MiKayla Lea and Jane Joyce, and the Lions outscored Messiah 46-40 in the final two quarters to secure the win.
 
With the MAC Commonwealth seeding now finalized, Messiah will next play on Wednesday, Feb. 22 when they host Stevenson at 7:00 p.m.

Due to tiebreaking procedures within the conference, Messiah entered Saturday's game need to win by four or more points to secure the top seed for the postseason tournament, and for all but the last minutes it appeared as if either team could earn the win. The teams were tied at 12-12 at the end of the first, and a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Jane Joyce gave the Lions a narrow 24-23 lead over Messiah heading into the halftime break. Notably, it was the second buzzer-beating three Joyce has hit against Messiah this season, the other coming at the end of the third-quarter-- from half court, nonetheless-- the last time these two teams matched up.

At the start of the third quarter Messiah went on a 11-7 run to take their largest lead of the game, 34-30, with 5:12 on the clock. Hoff scored eight of those 11 points, including two three-pointers, with Maci Thornton's three accounting for the other points. But Albright responded to the deficit behind back-to-back three-point plays from Alysha Lofton, and they soon took a 45-42 lead into the final quarter. 

Early in the fourth Gillian Glackin scored on a second-chance opportunity to cut the Falcons' deficit to 49-47, but that would be the closest Messiah got the rest of the way, even as Albright led by no more than two possessions until a jumper by Nina Mazzarelli put them up 63-55 with 1:34 on the clock.

In the final minute Albright went 5-6 from the foul line, effectively keeping Messiah from catching up in the loss.

In the end, and as mentioned, Albright's bench proved to be a huge difference thanks to Joyce, MiKalya, and the nine points from Mazzarelli. Lofton's team-high 19 points and Devan Horka's 18 points led the way, with Horka also collecting 11 rebounds to offset what was a strong showing by Messiah on the glass; the Falcons collected 10 offensive rebounds to support an 18-2 advantage in second chance points.

With the playoff seeding now set, Albright will await the winner of No. 4 Lebanon Valley and No. 5 Lycoming for Wednesday's Semifinal. Messiah will host No. 3 Stevenson on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.