GRANTHAM, Pa. - The No. 8 Messiah women's basketball team dominated the second quarter of Saturday afternoon's tilt with the visiting Arcadia Knights en route to a 64-48 victory. Messiah outscored the Knights 18-4 in the period to take a 20-point lead into the half. The Falcons never looked back in the second-half, cruising to their 15th-straight victory.
 
With the win, Messiah moves to 15-1 on the season and a perfect 7-0 in the MAC Commonwealth.
 
Just one game removed from scoring her 1,000th career point, Maci Thornton led all scorers with 24 points in the game, including a 5-11 effort from beyond the arc. Kristen Smoluk was the only other Falcon in double-digits with 10 points while Alecia Rohrer grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

How it Happened
The two squads battled early in the first quarter and the score was tied at 8-8 after a lay-up in the paint from Eleana Eckley. Eckley's basket launched Messiah to nine-consecutive points and the Falcons began to pull ahead 15-8. Haley Maraday was a major contributor in the Falcons' scoring run, collecting five of her eight points. The teams once again exchanged buckets back-and-forth late in the quarter and Messiah was able to hold onto an 18-12 lead going into the second quarter.

As previously mentioned, Messiah had all the momentum in the second quarter and outscored the Knights 18-4. The Falcons opened the quarter with 11-straight points, which included two three-point field goals from Maci Thornton, one from Eleana Eckley, and a two-pointer from Grace Cryan. Arcadia found their first basket with 3:03 remaining in the quarter when Sydney Cyr took a trip to the free-throw line. Cyr went on to lead the Knights in scoring with 10 points. The Falcons closed out the quarter on a 7-to-2 run past Arcadia. This scoring sequence began when Maci Thornton picked up a steal mid-court and scored a fast-break layup. Messiah went into the halftime break with a 20-point lead (36-16) over the Knights. The Falcons' defense was very impressive in the second quarter action in which they held Arcadia to just one field goal out of nine attempts (11.11 FG%) and picked up four steals.

The third quarter was competitive and consisted of a lot of back-and-forth action. The Falcons led by as many as 24 with just under two minutes remaining in the quarter, however the Knights pieced together a 7-to-3 run late in the quarter to bring Messiah's lead back down to 20 points (54-34) heading into the final quarter of play.

Arcadia didn't stop fighting and outscored the Falcons 14-10 in the final quarter. The Knights opened the quarter hitting three big shots to bring the lead down to 13 (54-41). Kristen Smoluk ended the Knights' run after cashing in two free-throws, but Arcadia responded with a basket of their own to once again chip away at the Falcons' lead. With 3:07 remaining in the game, Messiah began to regain control after a jumper from Kristen Smoluk, followed by a lay-up from Grace Cryan. Maci Thornton took a trip to the line with less than two minutes remaining and knocked in both free-throw attempts to give her team a 19 point advantage. Messiah went on and claimed a 64-48 victory and remained undefeated in the MAC Commonwealth. The Knights fell to 3-4 in the conference.

In The Box
The Falcons shot 38.6% (22-of-57) from the field, 36.8% (7-of-19) from deep range, and were 61.9% (13-of-21) from the stripe. The Knights were 37.8% (17-of-45) from the field, 42.9% (3-of-7) from the three-point arc, and hit 11-of-16 (68.8%) from the free-throw line. Maci Thornton took care of business on both ends of the court and collected seven steals to go with her 24 points. Messiah did a good job taking care of the basketball and only had eight turnovers on the afternoon. The Knights turned the ball over 21 times and only picked up four steals compared to Messiah's 13. Arcadia took care of the glass and out-rebounded the Falcons 38-29.

Up Next
Messiah will be on the road Wednesday, Jan. 16 when they travel to Annville, PA to take on MAC Commonwealth opponent Lebanon Valley at 8:00 p.m. The Falcons will return to Jordan Court at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19 when they host Widener University.