ARLINGTON, Va. – The Messiah women's basketball team suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons fell to the Marymount Saints 54-51 and moved to 5-1 on the season. Messiah had a slow start to the game, only scoring four points in the first quarter and were down 12 points at halftime, but the Falcons came out of the break looking like a new team. They outscored the Saints 17-9 in the third quarter and battled until the final whistle blew. With the win, Marymount remains undefeated on the season moving to 5-0.

Leah Springer led the Falcons with a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, while Megan Zimmerman had a strong second-half with 10 points. Jayneisha Davis and Eleana Eckley scored ten and nine, respectively.

Falcons Struggle Early
Marymount jumped out to an early 4-0 lead at the start of the game and the Falcons remained scoreless until midway through the quarter when Brooke Breinich knocked down a mid-range jumper. The Saints continued to dominate offensively and pulled ahead 8-2. Leah Springer collected Messiah's second bucket of the quarter, but the Saints closed out on a four-point run, outscoring the Falcons 12-4 in the first ten minutes of play.

Marymount's defensive pressure was impressive in the first quarter, causing Messiah to turn the ball over seven times. However, Messiah took care of business on the glass, outrebounding the Saints 10-9.

Momentum Shifts Back-And-Forth
The Saints opened up the quarter with a pair of free throws to take a 10-point lead, however the Falcons would build some momentum to chip away at Marymount's lead. Messiah stepped up their defensive pressure which led to six total turnovers from the Saints. Jayneisha Davis took advantage of the early turnovers and scored back-to-back buckets for Messiah which brought the lead down to six (14-8). Marymount was able to answer with a quick basket, but after two Falcon free throws and a reverse layup by Leah Springer, Messiah was within four points of the lead (16-12). The Saints then regained the momentum and closed out the quarter on a 10-to-0 run and went into halftime with a 26-12 lead over the Falcons.

Strong Third Quarter
Messiah came out of the break looking like a new team. They were executing on both ends of the court and outscored the Saints 17-9 in the third quarter. The Falcons opened the quarter with a 9-0 run to bring the lead down to just five points (26-21). Jayneisha Davis started this scoring spree with a three-pointer, followed by three-straight layups from Megan Zimmerman, Leah Springer, and Eleana Eckley. Messiah's defense held Marymount scoreless until the 4:33 minute mark, when Gabriella Haddad knocked down a jumper. The Falcons continued to battle and came within three points of the lead after a layup from Davis (28-25). The Saints answered with back-to-back baskets, however Sidney Stutzman hit a crucial three-pointer for Messiah to bring the lead down to 32-28. Marymount closed out the quarter with four-straight points to take a 35-29 advantage going into the fourth and final quarter.
 
Falcons Battle, Saints Prevail
Both teams battled back-and-forth to start the fourth quarter. However, Eleana Eckley began to heat up and scored four-straight points for the Falcons to bring the Saints' lead down to two (37-35). Marymount then knocked down four-straight free throws to pull ahead 41-35, but Megan Zimmerman scored a layup to cut the lead back down to five (42-37). Grace Cryan followed Zimmerman's basket by taking a trip to the line and scoring on both attempts to make it a one-possession ball game at 42-39. With just under two minutes remaining, the Saints scored a layup to go back up 44-39. The teams exchanged baskets back-and-forth, and then Leah Springer connected on a three-pointer from the wing to bring the lead down to two points, 46-44.

With less than a minute remaining, the Saints took two consecutive trips to the free throw line to extend their lead to six (50-44), which caused the Falcons to call a timeout. Leah Springer came out of the timeout with 33 seconds remaining and cashed in a three-pointer to bring the score down to 50-47, yet Marymount took another visit to the stripe where they knocked in both shots (52-47). The Falcons did not give up, Megan Zimmerman scored a layup off a pass from Jayneisha Davis to cut the lead down to three, but once again Marymount was steady from the free throw line. Zimmerman connected on a last minute shot in the final seconds to make the score 54-51, however it wouldn't be enough.

Although the Falcons battled hard in the third and fourth quarters, they were unable to hold on for the victory. As previously mentioned, they suffered their first loss of the season and will look to bounce back when they return to Hitchcock Arena.

What's Up Next
The Falcons will return to Jordan Court on Wednesday, Dec. 4 when they host the Stevenson Mustangs for an 8:00 p.m. start. This will be the first MAC Commonwealth matchup of the season for both squads.