FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The No. 9 Messiah women's basketball opened their Florida Winter Break swing with a 57-49 victory over the Kenyon Ladies. Messiah held a lead for a vast majority of the contest, but a late fourth-quarter push from the Ladies made it a race to the finish.

The Falcons held on for the eight-point victory and their 12th-straight win of the season.

Alecia Rohrer and Maci Thornton led the Falcons with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Rohrer also grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season.

Messiah improves to 12-1 on the season and will be in action tomorrow morning when they take on Emmanuel College in Fort Lauderdale to wrap up their Florida trip.

Fast Start
Messiah got off to a quick start with a layup from Alecia Rohrer accounting for the first points of the game, just 19 seconds into the contest. Another layup from Rohrer and a bucket from Maci Thornton pushed the Falcons' advantage to 6-0 in the opening minutes. The Falcons would never look back in the opening half, taking leads of 17-9 and 34-20 following the first and second quarters, respectively.

Thornton was the main offensive threat for the Falcons during the half, scoring 12 points on a 4-7 effort from the floor in the first 20 minutes. Rohrer chipped with eight points and eight rebounds as six different Falcons found the bottom of the cup in the half.

Hanging Tough
After controlling the opening half, Messiah and Kenyon played an even third quarter with each team scoring 13 points. Trinity Sumrall led the Falcons in the quarter with seven of Messiah's 13 points. She went 2-3 from the free throw line while making both of her shots from the field with a layup and a three.

Holding On
Messiah tied their largest lead of the game at 16 points with a jumper from Rohrer to start the fourth quarter, pushing the score to 49-33. Following the bucket from Rohrer, the Ladies went on a 16-5 run that spanned the majority of the fourth quarter to pull within five at 54-49 with 1:15 remaining in the game. Messiah closed out the game with Eleana Eckley knocking down three free throws in the final minute of the game to give the Falcons the 57-49 victory.

What's Up Next
The victory extends the Falcons' winning streak to an even dozen and improves their record to 12-1 on the season. Messiah will wrap-up the 2018 calendar year with a contest against the Emmanuel College Saints (8-2) tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m.