SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The Messiah College women's basketball team opened up the Puerto Rico tournament on Sunday afternoon taking on the UMass Boston Beacons. The Falcons fell to the Beacons 62-52 and moved to 9-2 on the season. Messiah had a 25-21 advantage at the halftime break but struggled offensively in the final two quarters, which led to their second loss of the season. With the win, UMass Boston improved to 9-1 overall.

Leah Springer led the Falcons with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Jayneisha Davis added 12 points of her own. Megan Zimmerman also collected 11 boards and contributed eight points. The Falcons had an off-day when it came to shooting the basketball. They were 14-of-54 (25.9%) from the field, 2-of-15 (13.3%) from three-point range, and a rare 22-of-39 (56.4%) from the free throw line. However, Messiah did own the boards, out-rebounding UMass Boston 51-46 and collecting nine steals on the afternoon.

How It Happened
Messiah opened up the game on a 5-0 run over the Beacons, with Leah Springer, Megan Zimmerman, and Jayneisha Davis all contributing on the scoreboard. However, UMass Boston tied things up at after a layup and a three pointer of their own (5-5). The two teams battled back-and-forth throughout the middle of the quarter and the score was tied at 8-8. Messiah then went on a short run after they knocked in three free throws, and took a three-point lead (11-8). The Beacons continued to fight and closed out the quarter on a 5-0 run to take a 13-11 lead going into the second quarter.
 
Leah Springer got things started for the Falcons in the second quarter, igniting her squad to an early 7-0 run. Springer knocked in a three-pointer to give Messiah an one-point lead, followed by a pair of free-throws from Grace Cryan. Springer completed the run with a layup which gave the Falcons their biggest lead of the day (18-13). UMass Boston cashed in a free throw to end Messiah's scoring spree, followed by a layup to bring the lead down to two points (18-16). Once again, the squads began to exchange buckets back-and-forth and Messiah held a one-point lead (22-21) with less than three minutes remaining. The Falcons closed out the quarter with a layup from Leah Springer and a free throw from Grace Cryan to take a 25-21 lead going into the halftime break. Messiah's impressive second quarter defense, held the Beacons to just eight points in the ten minutes of play. The also shot a game's best of 41.67% (5-of-12) from the field and 75% (3-of-4) from the free throw line in the second quarter.  
 
UMass Boston started the third quarter with four-straight points to tie the game at 25-25. However, Leah Springer regained the lead for Messiah with a free throw followed by a bucket from Megan Zimmerman to take a 28-25 advantage. It seemed as though every time Messiah would score, UMass Boston would answer with a bucket of their own. The Falcons took a three-point lead (34-31) after Grace Cryan knocked in a jumper, however the Beacons responded on an 8-0 run to take a 39-34 lead with less than three minutes remaining in the third quarter. Jayneisha Davis and Leah Springer connected to bring UMass Boston's lead down to two points (39-37), yet the Beacons would finish the quarter on a 5-to-2 run to take a 44-39 advantage going into the final quarter.
 
The Beacons held the momentum in the fourth quarter and jumped out to an early 10-point lead (49-39) after scoring five-straight points. Jayneisha Davis and Megan Zimmerman each connected on a free throw to bring UMass Boston's lead down to eight (49-41), however the Beacons answered with back-to-back three pointers to take their largest lead of the day, 55-41. The Falcons tried to generate some offense late in the game, but were unsuccessful shooting 15.38% (2-of-13) from the field in the final ten minutes. The Beacons held on for a 62-52 win over Messiah and to go undefeated (2-0) in the Puerto Rico tournament. 

Next Up
The Falcons will wrap up the Puerto Rico tournament on Monday, Dec. 30 when they take on Emerson College at 12:00 p.m. Emerson dropped their first game of the tournament on Dec. 28 in a 62-54 loss to UMass Boston.