GRANTHAM, Pa. – No. 21 Messiah College women's basketball team had a dominant fourth quarter and defeated Lebanon Valley 66 to 45 on Wednesday evening. After falling to Albright College on Saturday, the Falcons rebounded quickly and moved to 7-1 in the MAC Commonwealth and 15-2 overall.

As a team, Messiah shot 30-of-63 (47.6%) from the field but struggled connecting from deep, shooting only 3-of-12 (25%) from three point range. The Falcons owned the glass and out-rebounded the Dutchmen 44 to 33. Messiah's bench also had an impressive showing and collected 29 of the Falcons' 66 points.

Leah Springer led all scorers with 17 points and collected nine rebounds, while Kaitlyn Hoff added 13 points and four assists. Alecia Rohrer posted a double-double with 12 points and 18 rebounds. Hannah Brown and Maci Thornton each added eight points for the Falcons.
 
Hot Start
Messiah came out of the gates running and went on a quick 8-to-2 run past the Dutchmen and continued at a high pace. Maci Thornton got things started with a lay-up and Jen Fairbanks followed that with a jumper. The Dutchmen responded but then Kaitlyn Hoff and Leah Springer were successful on the other end to extend the Falcons lead to six. Kaitlyn Hoff collected nine of her 13 points in the first 10 minutes of play and the Falcons ended the quarter with a 19-11 advantage over LVC. Messiah also displayed impressive man-to-man defense at the start of the game and caused five early turnovers.

Dutchmen Fight Back
Messiah opened the quarter with a small 4-to-0 run but then the Dutchmen began to turn up their offensive intensity. LVC went on a 9-to-0 run over the Falcons and got as close as one point (25-24) from the lead when Caroline Scarff knocked down one of two free throws. Maci Thornton then took a trip to the line and was successful on both attempts to give Messiah a little bit of a cushion. With eight seconds left in play, Kaitlyn Hoff cashed in a clutch lay-up to give the Falcons a 29-24 lead at halftime.

Messiah struggled to take care of the basketball in the second quarter and they tallied seven of their total 11 turnovers. They also only scored 10 points, their lowest scoring quarter of the game.

Back-and-Forth Action
Lebanon Valley started the quarter with a 5-to-0 run to tie the game at 29 apiece but then Alecia Rohrer took matters into her own hands and scored three possessions in a row to bring Messiah's lead back up to six (35-29). The Falcons and Dutchmen battled back-and-forth throughout the rest of the quarter but Messiah created some momentum at the end of the quarter when Leah Springer collected an old fashion three-point play with two seconds remaining. Messiah ended the third quarter with a 46-40 advantage.

Explosive Finish
The Falcons flew to an 11-to-0 run in the first five minutes of the final quarter. Maci Thornton started things off for Messiah followed by back-to-back-to-back buckets by Leah Springer. Hannah Brown completed the Falcons' run with a wide-open three-pointer to make the score 57-40. The Dutchmen remained scoreless until the 4:51 mark, but had no chance of getting back into the game. Messiah had finally found their rhythm offensively and finished the quarter outscoring Lebanon Valley 20 to 5, to pick up a 66-45 victory.

Leah Springer and Alecia Rohrer had big offensive second-half performances for the Falcons, as did Hannah Brown. Springer gathered 13 of her 17 total points, Rohrer collected eight of her 12, and Brown collected all of her eight points in the second-half of play.

Next Up
Messiah has the weekend off but will continue conference play on Wednesday, Jan. 24 when they host Lycoming College. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. with the men's game to follow.