CHESTER, Pa. – No. 11 Messiah women's basketball opened the 2018-19 MAC Commonwealth play with a 69-66 overtime victory over Widener on Wednesday evening. The Falcons handed the Pride their first loss of the season (6-1), while Messiah moved to 6-1 overall and 1-0 in the conference.

Messiah had a strong first quarter of play and led by ten points going into the second quarter. However, Widener gained some momentum and tied things up 35-35 going into halftime. The second half of the game was high-paced and included a lot of back-and-forth action. The score remained tied (59-59) at the end of the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime. Messiah came out strong and pulled ahead 64-60, but the Pride connected on an and-one play to bring the Falcons' lead down to one-point. Maci Thornton hit a jumper to put Messiah back up three-points (66-63). After two incredible defensive possessions in the last minute of play and clutch free-throw shooting from Thornton, the Falcons secured a 69-66 win over Widener.

Maci Thornton led the Falcons in scoring with 21 points and collected three steals. Alecia Rohrer picked up another double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Kristen Smoluk added 12 points.

Statistically, Messiah did not have a impressive night on the offensive side of things. They shot 33.3% (25-of-75) from the field, 15.4% from behind the arc, and were 17-of-28 (60.7%) from the free throw line. However, Messiah did a good job taking care of the basketball and only had nine turnovers. They also displayed intensity and grit on the defensive end. The Falcons collected 14 steals and caused 23 Pride turnovers, in which they collected 15 points off.

How it Happened
The Falcons had a hot start to the game and opened with a 7-to-0 run, however the Pride responded with back-to-back baskets to bring Messiah's lead down to three points. The Falcons pieced together an 11-to-4 run over the Pride to pull ahead 18-8. Megan Zimmerman started this run for Messiah after collecting four-straight points and Maci Thornton added five points after a jumper in the paint and a deep three-point field goal to conclude the run. Messiah finished out the quarter with a ten-point lead over the Pride (25-15), and Thornton led all scorers with ten points in the first ten minutes of play.

The Pride found momentum at the start of the second quarter and opened up on an 11-to-2 scoring run which brought the Falcons' lead down to one (27-26). Midway through the quarter, Widener tied things at 31-31 but Eleana Eckley answered by knocking in two free throws for the Falcons to regain the lead. However, the Pride scored on back-to-back possessions to obtain their first lead of the game (35-33) after a trip to the line. Eckley once again hit two crucial free throws for Messiah to tie the game at 35-35 going into the halftime break. The Falcons struggled offensively in the second quarter and only shot 16.7% (3-of-18) from the field. The Pride were on fire and shot 6-of-12 (50%) from the field and outscored Messiah 20-10.

Both teams opened the third quarter exchanging baskets back and forth and the lead changed four different times in the first three and half minutes of play. Widener then found a rhythm offensively and went on a 7-0 run past Messiah to hold a 47-40 lead at the 4:59 mark. Messiah had their work cut out for them and they slowly began to chip away at the Pride's lead and pieced together an 8-0 scoring run to regain the lead. Trinity Sumrall started things off with a free throw and Haley Maraday knocked in a baseline jumper to bring Widener's lead down to four-points. Kristen Smoluk also scored a layup to make it a one-possession game. Sumrall and Maraday converted on the next two possessions for the Falcons to recapture the lead and Messiah entered the fourth quarter with a 49-47 advantage.

The fourth quarter was action packed and the score was tied at four different times. At the 6:57 mark, Widener went up 55-51 but Alecia Rohrer and Kristen Smoluk scored back-to-back buckets to tie things up at 55-55. Once again, the Pride pulled ahead after knocking down two free throws, however Maci Thornton went coast to coast to tie the game a 57-57. Widener pulled ahead (59-57), but Thornton knocked in another shot to even things up at 59-59 to take the game into overtime.

The Falcons came out strong and pulled ahead 64-60, however the Pride chipped away and were one-point from the lead. Maci Thornton collected her 18th point after scoring a jumper at the 2:39 mark to extend Messiah's lead to three points (66-63). Thornton cashed in three free throws at the end of the game to lead the Falcons to a 69-66 victory.

Up Next
Messiah will travel down to Christopher Newport on Saturday, December 1 for an non-conference match up. The game is scheduled to begin at 2:00 pm.