READING, Pa. – The Messiah College women's basketball team picked up their ninth-straight win after they defeated Alvernia University 66-31 on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons moved to 9-1 overall and 3-0 in the MAC Commonwealth, while Golden Wolves fell to 3-6 and 0-4 in the conference.

The Falcons had an impressive second half, outscoring the Golden Wolves 38-12. Messiah's defense held Alvernia to only four points in the third quarter of play. Alecia Rohrer led the Falcons and collected her eighth double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Maci Thornton and Kristen Smoluk each added 12 points and Eleana Eckley scored a career-high with 11 points. Megan Zimmerman had a great afternoon for the Falcons off the bench, she tallied eight points and seven rebounds.

How It Happened
It did not take long for Messiah to find momentum offensively, they quickly jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first three minutes of play. Defensively, the Falcons shut down the Golden Wolves early in the quarter; causing three turnovers in the first two minutes. Alvernia scored their first basket of the game at the 5:08 minute mark when they drained a deep three-pointer with the shot clock winding down. Messiah scored on back-to-back possessions to pull ahead 10-3. Both teams remained scoreless for almost three full minutes late in the quarter until Alecia Rohrer went one-of-two at the line. Alvernia ended the quarter with a big three-point shot bring Messiah's lead down to five points (11-6) heading into the second quarter.

The Golden Wolves opened the quarter with a fast break lay-up bringing the Falcons' lead down to three points. Although Messiah picked up two early fouls, Maci Thornton hit a three-point field goal to bring the Falcons' lead back up to six (14-8). The Golden Wolves hung around and knocked in two free throws to stay close to Messiah, however the Falcons took off on a 7-to-0 run to pull ahead. Maci Thornton started this scoring run with a lay-up after driving through the lane, Kristen Smoluk added two free-throws, and Eleana Eckley finished the run with an old fashioned three-point play. Both squads traded baskets back-and-forth throughout the remainder of the quarter and Messiah held a 28-19 advantage going into the halftime break.

Messiah looked like a new team when they stepped on the court after halftime. The Falcons' ball movement on offense was impressive; they were being patient and taking quality shots. Messiah started the quarter off on a four-point run after both Alecia Rohrer and Kristen Smoluk scored in the paint (32-19). Both teams traded points on back-to-back possessions, however Messiah began to pull ahead and pieced together an 11-to-2 run late in the quarter. Defensively, the Falcons held the Golden Wolves to four points in the third quarter. Messiah went into the fourth and final quarter with a 45-23 lead over Alvernia. The third quarter was by far the best quarter for Messiah. They outscored the Golden Wolves 17-4 and only allowed the Golden Wolves to score one field goal. Alecia Rohrer collected eight of her 13 points in the third quarter action.

The Falcons outscored the Golden Wolves 21-8 in the final ten minutes of play. The quarter started with Messiah scoring four consecutive points, however Alvernia responded with a three-point field goal. Eleana Eckley answered with a three of her own, but the Golden Wolves were also able to connect on another three-pointer; their fifth of the game. Messiah launched off on a 14-to-2 run to close out the quarter. The Falcons secured a 66-31 victory over the Golden Wolves and remain undefeated in the MAC Commonwealth.

Although Messiah had a slow start to the game offensively, they made the adjustments they needed to make at halftime to come out and dominate in the last two quarters. Overall the Falcons shot 36.7% (22-of-60) from the field and were a steady 83.3% (20-of-24) from the free-throw line, however Messiah only connected on 2 of 18 attempts from three-point range (11.1%). The Falcons took care of business on the glass and out-rebounded Alvernia 39-32. The Golden Wolves struggled taking care of the basketball and turned the ball over 25 times. Messiah was able to take advantage of that and collected 16 points off of turnovers.

What's Up Next
The Falcons will remain on the road until the New Year. Messiah will head to Lycoming on Wednesday, Dec. 12 for another MAC Commonwealth match-up. The Falcons will then turn around and play at Albright on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 1:00 pm for a rematch of last season's MAC Commonwealth title game.