Reading, PA – No. 20 Messiah women's basketball team dominated the Alvernia Crusaders in a 63-40 victory.  After a low scoring game against Stevenson on Wednesday, the Falcons displayed excellence on both ends of the floor on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons shot 24 of 58 (41.4%) from the field and 12 of 16 (75%) from the free throw line.  Messiah showed great depth in their win over Alvernia, with eleven different Falcons scoring and all players experiencing court time.

Alecia Rohrer had an incredible second half performance, she led the Falcons in scoring with 15 points, and she also collected seven rebounds and three steals. Gillian Glackin received her 10th double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 boards, while Hannah Brown had a career-high game scoring 12 points for the Falcons. With this victory, Messiah improved to 20-1 overall and 11-1 in the MAC Commonwealth.

The last time Messiah and Alvernia met was on Saturday, December 3rd. The Falcons defeated the Crusaders 72-48, Glackin led the Falcons with 19, Hoff added 13, and Thornton had 12 points for the Falcons.

Messiah performed very well on both the offensive and defensive ends; in the first half alone the Falcons shot an impressive 12-29 (41.4%) from the field and 10-12 (83.3%) from the charity stripe. Messiah's scrappy defense also created 13 Crusader turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play and the Falcons were able to score 22 of their 36 points off of those turnovers. The Crusaders struggled offensively in the first half; they only shot 6 of 22 (27.3%) from the field and 1 of 2 (50%) from the free throw line.

In the first possession of the game, Gillian Glackin started things off for Messiah with a quick basket and then helped lead the Falcons to a 7-0 run in the first five minutes of play. Midway through the first quarter, the Crusaders began to chip away at Messiah's lead, getting as close as a four point deficit, but Jen Fairbanks and Hannah Brown both connected with a minute remaining to extend Messiah's advantage to 16-8 going into the second quarter. The Falcons showed tenacious yet disciplined man-to-man defense in the first quarter which created seven turnovers and they held the Crusaders to eight points.

The Falcons continued to set the tempo in the second quarter, Gillian Glackin once again ignited Messiah's offense after she converted an eight-foot jumper off of Leah Springer's post feed. Throughout the quarter, Messiah showed determination on offense by driving to the hoop and also feeding the ball inside to their post players, as the Falcons had a major size advantage over the Crusaders. Glackin, Rohrer, and Thornton all took trips to the free throw line and completed seven of eight attempts. Halfway through the second quarter, Messiah incorporated a full-court press to add even more pressure to Alvernia' s guards and were able to collect six more turnovers in the 10 minutes of play. Hannah Brown had an impressive second quarter collecting six of her 12 total points. Brown had back to back lay-ups with less than two minutes remaining and then a buzzer beater to give the Falcons a 36-16 lead going into halftime. Gillian Glackin led the Falcons with 11 points, seven of which were from the line heading into the break.

The Falcons came out of half-time looking to grow their lead and maintain the momentum they had established in the first and second quarters. Kaitlyn Hoff, who offensively had a quiet first half, initiated Messiah's offense by hitting a deep jumper 20 seconds into the quarter. A little over two minutes later, Hoff stole the ball from Miranda Hoover and went coast-to-coast to pick up her third bucket of the game. Alvernia implemented a full-court press in the third, but Messiah was able to handle the ball well and remain calm under the pressure that the Crusaders were attempting to bring. Midway through the third quarter, Alecia Rohrer completed a three-point play to extend Messiah's lead to 45-20, the very next possession Rohrer again, pump faked her defender and finished the easy lay-in to give the Falcons a 27-point lead, their biggest of the game. Messiah would go up 51-22 heading into the final quarter, after Jocelyn Chavous connected a deep-two with five seconds left on the clock. The Falcons held the Crusaders to only six points in the third and Rohrer gathered seven points for Messiah.

In the final quarter, the Crusaders had their best offensive performance of the game, scoring 18 of their 40 points. On the other hand, the fourth quarter was Messiah's lowest scoring quarter adding only 12 points. Hannah Brown opened the quarter collecting her 12th point with a three-point basket in the first nine seconds, as mentioned earlier, this was a career-high game for Brown. After Brown's big shot, the Crusaders went on a 6-0 run to bring the Falcon lead down to 26 points. Alecia Rohrer and Maci Thornton answered with baskets in back-to-back possessions to get Messiah's advantage up tp 58-28. Maya Cooper went on a 5-0 for the Crusaders after knocking down pair of free throws and hitting a three-pointer, but again Messiah was able to answer with a three-point play by Cora Travaglione. Messiah picked up their 20th win of the season, as mentioned above, defeating Alvernia 63-40. 

Maya Cooper led Alvernia in scoring with 15 points and Miranda Hoover added 10 for the Crusaders. Alvernia moved to 2-19 overall and 2-10 in the MAC Commonwealth.

The Falcons are back in action on Feb. 8 at 6:00 p.m. as they travel to Widener University.