GRANTHAM, Pa. - No. 13 Messiah College women's basketball came out of halftime on fire which led them to an dominant 78-49 victory over the Eastern Eagles. The Falcons will head into the Thanksgiving break with an overall record of 5-1, while the Eagles fall to 3-2 overall. Messiah shot an impressive 48.5% (32-of-66) from the field, 53.8% (7-of-13) from three-point range, and went 7-of-10 from the free throw line. Alecia Rohrer and Maci Thornton once again led the Falcons offensively. Rohrer tallied 21 points, nine rebounds, and five blocks and Thornton collected 19 points, four steals and four assists. Eleana Eckley added nine points for Messiah, while Kristen Smoluk and Megan Zimmerman each contributed seven.

Early Falcon Lead, Eagles Come Back
Messiah started off the game with five steals which led to an early 11-3 lead over Eastern; seven of those 11 points came from Alecia Rohrer. Eastern came alive at the halfway point in the first quarter and took off on a 12-0 run to take the lead from Messiah (15-11). Eleana Eckley knocked in a jumper to bring the lead down to two points, but the Eagles hit a three-pointer to pull ahead 18-13 with just under two minutes to play. Megan Zimmerman and Haley Maraday made crucial buckets for Messiah in the final possessions of the quarter and the Falcons went into the second quarter trailing just by one point.
 
Messiah Turns Things Around
The Falcons started to build some momentum in the second quarter and outscored the Eagles 20-15. Eastern opened with a layup to extend their lead to three points but Becca Isaac cashed in a three pointer to tie the game at 20-20. A minute later, Maci Thornton regained the lead for Messiah as she knocked in a deep three (23-22) off of a pass from Eleana Eckley. Eastern took the lead back and the two teams battled back-and-forth. Late in the quarter Grace Cryan tied things up at 30-30 and the very next possession Maci Thornton picked up a steal which led to an Alecia Rohrer jumper to give Messiah a 32-30 lead with under two minutes to play. The Falcons generated momentum late in the quarter and went into the halftime break with a 37-33 lead over the Eagles.
 
Dominant Third Quarter
Messiah came alive in the third quarter of play. The Falcons opened on a 14-to-2 run in the first five minutes of action. Alecia Rohrer started that scoring spree for Messiah, followed by back-to-back three pointers from Becca Isaac and Maci Thornton. Thornton also completed an and-one play to extend Messiah's lead, while Rohrer and Kristen Smoluk drained two baskets to give the Falcons a 52-35 advantage. The Eagles answered with back-to-back layups, however the Falcons were right there to close out the quarter on a 12-point run. Messiah's defense was outstanding in the third, holding the Eagles to just six points. The Falcons also collected four steals and scored 11 points off of Eastern's third quarter turnovers.
 
Fifth Straight Win
The Falcons outscored the Eagles 15-10 in the final quarter and finished the game with a 78-49 win over Eastern. This is the fifth-straight win for Messiah since they lost their season-opener to York. Although the Eagles took care of the glass and out-rebounded Messiah 42-28, the Falcons did what they needed to do on the offensive and defensive ends to be successful. As previously mentioned, the Falcons shot an impressive 48.5% from the field and 53.8% from deep range, while Eastern shot 38.5% from the field and went 3-of-4 from the three-point arc. Defensively, Messiah picked up 16 steals and caused the Eagles to turn the ball over 29 times.
 
Next Up
The Falcons will be back in action on Nov. 28th when they travel to Widener University for their first MAC Commonwealth game of the season. Messiah will then head down to Christopher Newport University on Dec. 1st to play another solid opponent.