BALTIMORE, Md. – The Messiah College women's basketball team moved to 4-0 on the season after they defeated the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays 59-45 on Saturday afternoon.
Leah Springer led the Falcons with 14 points and 17 rebounds, tallying her third double-double of the season.
Megan Zimmerman also added 14 points, while
Jayneisha Davis and
Eleana Eckley contributed 12 and 10, respectively.
The Falcons shot an impressive 41.5% (22-of-53) from the field and held the Blue Jays to just 30.6% (19-of-62) from the floor. Messiah also out-rebounded Johns Hopkins 42-33 and collected 14 points alone off of the Blue Jays' turnovers.
Fast Paced First Quarter
Both teams opened up pushing the tempo offensively and
Leah Springer started things off for Messiah with a bucket in the lane. The squads continued to battle and Johns Hopkins began to pull away with an early 9-6 lead over Messiah. However,
Megan Zimmerman responded with a layup in the paint to bring the Blue Jays' lead back down to one (9-8).
Eleana Eckley scored on back-to-back possessions to pull ahead 14-11 midway through the quarter, but a layup from Hopkins' Elise Moore kept the score close. The teams traded buckets back-and-forth in the final two minutes of the first quarter and Messiah held a three point lead (16-13) going into the second.
Falcons Start To Pull Away
The second quarter began much like the first, fast tempo and with both teams exchanging buckets. The Falcons began to pull away midway through the quarter by going on a 9-0 run.
Eleana Eckley started this run by tying the game up at 22-22 followed by a free throw by
Brooke Breinich and four points in the paint from
Megan Zimmerman. Eckley finished Messiah's scoring spree with a pair of free throws to give the Falcons a 29-22 lead going into the break.
Megan Zimmerman led all scorers with 12 points in the first half of play and
Leah Springer collected six rebounds. Messiah out-rebounded the Blue Jays 19-16 in the first two quarters and scored seven points off of Hopkins' turnovers.
Springer Leads The Way
Messiah continued to extend their lead in the third quarter. Once again,
Leah Springer got things going with back-to-back layups to start the half which ignited the Falcons on a 12-to-4 run. Messiah led by as many as 15 points in the third, however late in the quarter the Blue Jays hit three-straight buckets including a three-pointer from Lyndsey Hoyd to bring Messiah's lead down to eight. However the Falcons ended the quarter on a 6-to-3 run to take a 49-36 advantage going into the fourth and final quarter.
Leah Springer had a standout third quarter, collecting 10 of her 14 total points.
The fourth quarter was a low scoring one, with the Falcons outscoring the Blue Jays 10-9. Messiah closed out the game and picked up a 59-45 victory to remain undefeated on the season.
Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action on Tuesday, Nov. 19 when they travel to Eastern University for a 7:00 p.m. start. The last time these two teams met was on Nov. 20, 2018. The Falcons soared over the Eagles 78-49 on Jordan Court.