READING, Pa. – No. 19 Messiah College women's basketball picked up their fifth-straight win after they defeated Alvernia University 71-21 on Saturday afternoon. Kaitlyn Hoff was seven points shy of 1,000 points when she entered the game and after scoring her fourth basket against the Golden Wolves, Hoff became the 21st player in Messiah College women's basketball history to reach 1,000 career points. With this conference win over Alvernia, Messiah moved to 19-2 overall and 11-1 in the MAC Commonwealth.

Every player on Messiah's roster was able to produce on the scoreboard for the Falcons. Hoff led the Falcons in scoring with 16 points and Alecia Rohrer was right behind her with 15. Rohrer also collected 12 rebounds. Leah Springer and Becca Isaac each added seven points for Messiah in their dominant win.

The Falcons shot 31-of-67 (46.3%) from the field and were 6-of-7 (85.7%) from the free-throw line, however they struggled to connect from deep and shot only 3-of-17 (17.6%). Messiah out-rebounded the Golden Wolves, 42-36 and did a great job taking care of the basketball with only six turnovers. Defensively, Messiah had a dominant performance. They held Alvernia to only 21 points, collected eight steals, and five blocks. The last time Messiah held their opponent to under 30 points was on Dec. 9, 2017 when Messiah defeated Alvernia 80-29.

Slow Start, Falcons Gain Momentum
Both teams started the game very sluggish, in fact Messiah was scoreless on their first five possession of play. Alvernia started things off by scoring a long two-pointer at the 7:15 minute mark and this would put some pressure on the Falcons to counter-attack. Kaitlyn Hoff answered with a deep-two of her own to tie that game and ignite a run for her squad. Messiah then went on a 14-to-0 run past the Golden Wolves, in which Alecia Rohrer scored nine of those points. Alvernia finished off the quarter with a three-pointer to cut Messiah's lead to 11. The Falcons displayed impressive defense in the first quarter of play. They held the Golden Wolves to only five points and caused eight turnovers.

Messiah on Fire
Messiah started the second quarter right where they left off and kept their foot on the gas pedal. The Falcons outscored the Golden Wolves 28-to-5 in the second quarter of play. Seven different Falcons were able to produce on the scoreboard in the ten minutes of play. Becca Isaac and Leah Springer each collected five points.

Messiah opened the quarter on a 6-to-0 run but Alvernia's Torie Zerbe knocked down a three-pointer to try to steal the momentum from the Falcons. The Falcons went on and closed out the quarter on a 22-to-2 run to give themselves a comfortable lead heading into the halftime break.

Hoff Collects 1,000
At the 3:42 mark of the second quarter, Becca Isaac found Kaitlyn Hoff spotting up on the wing, Hoff put up the shot and scored, to collect her 1,000 career point. As mentioned previously, Hoff is the 21st player in Messiah women's basketball history to receive this milestone.

In the first half, Messiah shot an impressive 19-of-35 (54.3%) from the field and were a steady 4-of-5 (80%) from the line. The Falcons out-rebounded the Golden Wolves 21-to-17 and were able to score 17 points off of Alvernia's 14 first-half turnovers.

Falcons Fly Away
Messiah started the third quarter pushing the tempo and getting stops on defense. Alecia Rohrer got things going offensively for Messiah, followed by a lay-in from Maci Thornton for an early 4-to-0 run. Alvernia stopped that run by taking a trip to the line and connecting on both attempts. In the middle of the quarter, the Falcons and Golden Wolves exchanged baskets back-and-forth, but Messiah closed out the quarter on a 10-to-4 run, giving them a 60-18 advantage going into the final quarter of play.

Falcons sealed the deal in the fourth quarter and outscored Alvernia 11-to-3. Messiah's bench contributed quite a bit in their win over the Golden Wolves and collected 28 points, nine of which came in the final quarter.

Up Next
Messiah will look to keep their winning-streak alive when they host Widener University on Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 6:00 p.m.  The men's game will follow.