GRANTHAM, Pa. - No. 20 Messiah College women's basketball team picked up another conference win after they defeated Lycoming College at home on Wednesday evening. It was a low scoring game for the Falcons, but they secured the 54-45 victory and moved to 16-2 overall and 8-1 in the MAC Commonwealth. The Falcons and Warriors matched up earlier this season on November 29 and Messiah pulled out a close 78-74 victory on the road.

Messiah came into the game averaging 43% from the field and scoring 70.8 points per game, but they struggled to find any sort of rhythm offensively.The Falcons shot 19-of-55 (34.5%) from the field, 7-of-18 (38.8%) from three-point range and were 9-of-12 (75%) from the free throw line. The Warriors didn't have a great offensive showing either and shot just 19-of-63 (30.2%) from the field, 4-of-20 (20%) from three-point, and 3-of-5 (60%) from the line. However, Lycoming out-rebounded Messiah 47 to 38 and 17 of their 47 rebounds were offensive.

Kaitlyn Hoff led all scorers with 17 points and collected four assists. Maci Thornton was the only other Falcon in double-figures with 13. Leah Springer and Hannah Brown each added six.

Falcons Trail Early
The Warriors came out strong and went on an early 5-to-0 run over Messiah. Kaitlyn Hoff cashed in a three-pointer to bring Lycoming's lead down to just two points. The Warriors then went on 6-to-2 run and were up 11-5 midway through the quarter.

It's Raining Threes
Messiah hit four crucial three point shots to close out the quarter with a 17-13 advantage. Kristen Smoluk started things off for Messiah when she knocked in a three pointer and then the very next possession Hannah Brown hit a three of her own to tie the game at 11-11. Messiah then took the first lead of the game (14-13) after Becca Isaac connected from deep off of Maci Thornton's pass. Hannah Brown closed out the first quarter with a big three-point shot after Kaitlyn Hoff found her spotting up behind the arc with five seconds remaining on the clock.

Back-and-Forth Action
Messiah opened the second quarter on a quick 5-1 run and forced Lycoming to call an early timeout. Lycoming came out of the time-out hungry and scored back-to-back buckets bringing Messiah's lead down to three points (22-16). Leah Springer knocked down a jumper in the paint to try to build upon Messiah's lead but once again the Warriors collected back-to-back baskets to cut Messiah's advantage to one point. The rest of the quarter was back and forth action and the Warriors outscored Messiah 13-11 but Messiah still held a two-point advantage (28-26) going into the half-time break.

Falcons Soar to Victory
Messiah came out of halftime controlling the tempo offensively, they went on a 5-to-0 run in the first five minutes of play extending their lead to seven points. Once again, the Warriors came alive and hit two back-to-back shots which brought Messiah's lead back down to two. With just under three minutes left in the quarter, Maci Thornton knocked down a three-pointer which ignited Messiah's offense, and they went on a 7-to-4 run to close out the quarter.

After Maci Thornton opened up the final quarter, neither team scored a basket until the 6:45 mark when Kaitlyn Hoff went on a fast break and completed the layup. The Warriors went on a short 5-to-0 run late in the quarter to bring Messiah's lead down to five (49-44) but the Falcons knocked in six free-throws to close out the quarter with a 54-45 victory.

Next Up
The Falcons will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 27 when they travel to Arcadia University. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.