GRANTHAM, Pa. - No. 17 Messiah women's basketball moved to 6-0 in the MAC Commonwealth after defeating Hood College 70-36 on Wednesday evening. The Falcons dominated the entire game and moved to 13-1 overall.

Forwards Leah Springer and Alecia Rohrer led Messiah offensively. Springer collected 18 points by shooting 7-of-11 (63.6%) from the field. Rohrer, who was recently named USBWA National Player of the Week and MAC Commonwealth Player of the Week, had another solid performance scoring 18 points and securing 11 rebounds. Kaitlyn Hoff was the other Falcon to reach double-figures and she added 11 points and five assists. Haley Maraday had an impressive performance off the bench, she scored nine points for the Falcons, four of those came from the free-throw line.

Overall, Messiah shot 26-of-60 (43.3%) from the field, 15-of-18 (83.3%) from the free throw line, but struggled from three-point range, shooting just 3-of-13 (23.1%). The Falcons collected 19 steals on the evening and Kristen Smoluk gathered six of those on her own. Hood turned the ball over 31 times and Messiah was able to score 35 points off of those turnovers.

Fiery Start Over Blazers
Messiah looked happy to be back on Jordan Court and got to business right away. Messiah went on an early 9 to 2 run, in which Kaitlyn Hoff had five of those points. They then went on a 13 to 6 run to close out the quarter. Haley Maraday started this second run by knocking down a pair of free-throws and then scoring a fastbreak lay-up the next possession. Hannah Brown and Alecia Rohrer both had back-to-back baskets to contribute to this large run. Maci Thornton completed the run with a fastbreak lay-up off of Kristen Smoluk's steal to give Messiah a 22-6 advantage going into the second quarter. 

Falcons Don't Let Up
Messiah continued to dominate into the second quarter and they outscored the Blazers 18 to 10 going into the half-time break. Hood opened up the quarter with a quick 5 to 0 run over the Falcons, but Messiah quickly turned things around and went on an 11 to 0 run of their own and jumped out to a 33-11 lead. Midway through the quarter, both teams struggled to put the ball in the hoop and the ball game remained scoreless for three minutes. Kaitlyn Hoff broke the scoring drought at the 2:17 minute mark when she made a lay-up to give Messiah a 25 point advantage. The Blazers and Falcons exchanged buckets back-and-forth in the last two minutes of the first-half, but Hood's Lauren Keeney scored a fastbreak lay-up at the buzzer to cut into Messiah's lead. The Falcons led the Blazers 40-16 heading into half-time.

Kaitlyn Hoff and Leah Springer led Messiah with nine points apiece in the first-half and Alecia Rohrer collected seven. Nine different Falcons scored in the first 20 minutes of play.
 
Consistent Finish
Messiah remained consistent throughout the second half of play in which they scored 15 points in each quarter to secure a 70-36 victory. The Falcons came into the game averaging 44% from the field and that is what they scored in the last two quarters (12-of-27). Alecia Rohrer led all-scorers with 10 points in the second half of competition while Leah Springer added nine.

The third quarter started with a lot of back-and-forth action but midway through Messiah turned things around when Becca Isaac knocked down a mid-range jumper to ignite the Falcons to a 9 to 2 run. Haley Maraday finished that run by knocking down a three-pointer to give Messiah a 55-25 lead going into the final quarter of play.

The fourth quarter was Hood's best offensive quarter, they scored 11 of their 36 final points. Messiah started out on a 15 to 4 run and led by as many as 41 points, but the Blazers closed out the game on a 7 to 0 run of their own, to bring the scoring margin back down to +36.

Next Up
Messiah will be back in action when they travel to Albright College on Saturday, Jan. 13. Albright sits at 4-1 in the MAC Commonwealth and are 9-5 overall. Game time is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.