ANNVILLE, Pa. - The No. 24 Messiah pulled away from the Lebanon Valley Dutchmen on Wednesday night, earning an 80-48 victory to improve to 13-4 on the season and 7-1 in the MAC Commonwealth. Leah Springer had a stellar, 25-point, 15-rebound double-double on the evening while also dishing out four assists and collecting three steals while committing no turnovers.
 
After collecting a career high 21 points against Arcadia less than two weeks ago, Eleana Eckley upped her career mark with 22 points on the Wednesday night. The sophomore guard went 8-12 from the floor, including a strong 5-8 effort from beyond the arc. Jayneisha Davis joined Springer and Eckley in double-digits with 14 points on the night.
 
With their 7-1 record in conference, Messiah continues to hold a share of the top spot in the MAC Commonwealth. The Falcons are tied with the Albright Lions for the top spot in the conference at the midpoint of the conference season.
 
Messiah will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Reading to take on the Alvernia Golden Wolves at 1:00 p.m.
 
Tight Opening Quarter
The Falcons and Dutchmen went back and forth throughout the opening quarter with LVC in the driver's seat for the majority of the period. The Dutchmen scored the opening bucket of the game and the two sides traded buckets for the next nine minutes. With the game tied 10-10 with just over a minute remaining in the opening quarter, the Dutchmen made a free throw to take a one-point lead.
 
Leah Springer followed with a layup to give Messiah their first lead of the game at 12-11. Springer added a jumper after a Dutchmen turnover on the final possession of the first quarter to put the Falcons up 14-11 heading into the second period.
 
Creating Separation
Messiah began pulling away with another jumper by Springer and back-to-back threes from Amber High and Eleana Eckley to open the second quarter. Combined with Springer's four points in the final minute of the first, Messiah went on a 12-0 run to take a 22-11 lead with 8:05 remaining in the second quarter.
 
The Dutchmen cut the lead down to five with six-straight points, but the Falcons held onto a lead of at least five for the remainder of the quarter and built their advantage back toward double-digits at halftime. Eleana Eckley made a layup in the final seconds of the half to give Messiah an eight-point, 36-28 advantage at the break.
 
Cruise Control
A jumper by Eckley less than two and a half minutes into the third quarter gave Messiah a 42-32 lead. The Falcons held a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game as Eckley's jumper started a sizable 20-7 run for Messiah that lasted a majority of the quarter.
 
The run was fueled by three Falcons with Jayneisha Davis (eight points), Leah Springer (seven), and Eleana Eckley (five) contributing all five points. During the stretch, Messiah went 9-14 from the floor, including a perfect 2-2 mark from downtown.
 
Despite two late buckets from the Dutchmen, Messiah held a 60-43 lead leading into the final 10 minutes.
 
In the final quarter, the Falcons allowed just two field goals with an and-one layup from LVC's Emily Mealey just over two minutes into the quarter and a layup from Kennedy Kuffa in the final 15 seconds of play.
 
Between those two buckets, Messiah went on a 15-0 run to put the game out of reach. Five players scored on the run as Messiah forced seven turnovers.
 
The two large, second-half runs gave Messiah the comfortable 80-48 victory.
 
What's Up Next
Messiah will travel to Alvernia on Saturday to begin the second-half of their conference schedule when they take on the Golden Wolves at 1:00 p.m. in Alvernia. The Falcons earned a 66-47 victory over Alvernia back on Dec. 14 on Jordan Court. Leah Springer led all scorers with 16 points in the victory.