GRANTHAM, Pa. - With just over five minutes remaining in regulation, the No. 17 Messiah College women's basketball team trailed the Eastern Connecticut State Warriors 47-42 in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. The Falcons rallied and ended the game on an 18-3 run to earn a trip to the Sweet 16 for the third-straight season. A resilient Messiah team, hung tough throughout the contest despite foul trouble and injuries taking players off the floor.

Eleana Eckley was the lone Falcon to play all 40 minutes, leading Messiah with 21 points. Jayneisha Davis and Leah Springer each had 14 points in the physical, end-to-end battle. Despite being out-rebounded 44-29, Messiah's defensive unit forced 27 turnovers in the 10-point victory.

Warriors Shoot Lights Out In Opening Quarter
Eastern Connecticut came out of the gates hot. They shot an impressive 66.67% (6-of-9) from the field in the opening quarter, while Messiah only shot 18.75 (3-of-16) from field goal range. The Warriors jumped out to an early 8-1 lead, but a three-pointer from Eleana Eckley brought the Warriors' advantage down to four-points (8-4). Eastern Connecticut responded with back-to-back layups to pull ahead 12-4 with less than a minute remaining. Grace Cryan found Eleana Eckley spotting up for a three, she knocked in her second three-pointer of the game to narrow the scoring margin to five. The very next possession, Jayneisha Davis picked up a steal and drained the fastbreak jumper to bring the Eastern Connecticut lead down to 12-9 heading into the second quarter. 

Falcons Begin To Find Their Rhythm
Messiah found their first lead of the game after a layup from Jayneisha Davis and a three-pointer from Grace Cryan, which gave them a 14-12 lead at the start of the second quarter. The team teams then began to trade points back-and-forth throughout the middle of the quarter, but Messiah began to pull ahead 20-16 after a pair of clutch free throws from Eleana Eckley. The competitive action continued for the rest of the second quarter and Messiah held a slight 25-24 lead going into the halftime break.

Series Of Runs In The Third
Eleana Eckley opened the third quarter extending Messiah's lead to three points (27-24) after a layup off of a Warriors' turnover. However, Eastern Connecticut dashed out on a seven-point run to regain a 31-27 lead. The action continued and about midway through the quarter Eleana Eckley scored back-to-back layups, followed by a layup from Jayneisha Davis, which gave Messiah a one-point (36-35) lead. The momentum shifted back to the Warriors and they scored six-unanswered points to pull ahead 41-36, however a pair of free throws from Leah Springer and a jumper from Brooke Breinich made it a one-point game, 41-40, going into the final quarter.

Messiah Takes Control Late, Sweet Victory
The Warriors opened the fourth quarter on a 6-to-2 run to pull ahead 47-42 with 6:25 left in the game. However, Messiah erupted on an 18-to-3 scoring spree to close out the game and secure a 60-50 win over a talented Eastern Connecticut team. Leah Springer and Jayneisha Davis got this run started with back-to-back three-pointers to give Messiah a 48-47 lead. Those three-pointers were followed by another jumper from Springer, a three-pointer from Davis, and five-straight points from Eckley. Leah Springer finished the quarter with a pair of free throws. She led Messiah with nine points in the final quarter of play.

Messiah played exceptional defense in the fourth, they only allowed the Warriors to score nine points and held them to a total of 50 points in the game. Eastern Connecticut came into the weekend averaging 67 points per game.

Sweet 16 Bound
The Falcons return to the Sweet 16 and will take on the Smith College Pioneers who came from behind in the fourth quarter to defeat SUNY New Paltz in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament 62-60. Continue to check GoMessiah.com for schedule updates.