GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah women's basketball team picked up the 2020-21 season right where they left off in the 2019-20 campaign, earning a 73-58 victory over the visiting Lebanon Valley Dutchmen on Thursday night. After seeing their previous season cut short in the NCAA Tournament due the COVID-19, the Falcons extended their winning streak to 17 games with a season opening victory over the Dutchmen.
 
It was a total team effort for the Falcons with 11 different players finding the bottom of the cup and five going for at least nine. Megan Zimmerman led the well-balanced attack with 15 points on an impressive 6-7 effort from the floor in just 18 minutes while Amber High (14 points) and Leah Springer (10 points) joined her in double figures.
 
Messiah and Lebanon Valley will run it back tomorrow night when the Falcons travel to Annville. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m.

Falcons Jump Out To Quick Lead
After a slow start to the game for both teams, a Leah Springer layup got the scoring going. The Falcons held a 6-5 lead nearly halfway through the first quarter before picking up some steam. Four straight points from Springer made it 10-5 which started up a 17-4 run to close out the first quarter with Messiah leading 23-9.
 
The second quarter was highlighted by Megan Zimmerman, who scored nine of the Falcons 11 points in the quarter to help send the Falcons into the half with a 34-17 lead.
 
Consistent Second Half Performance
It was more of the same for Messiah in the third quarter as their lead swelled to as many as 25 points. Leading the way for the Falcons were Eleana Eckley and Amber High, with seven and four points in the quarter, respectively. They took a 53-29 lead into the final quarter.
 
High continued her solid shooting from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter, knocking down two threes, as she finished with a career high 14 points in the game. After both teams didn't make a three in the first half, the Falcons were able to knock down four threes in the second half.

Messiah came away with the comfortable 73-38 victory in their first game of the season to move them to 1-0.
 
Swarming Falcon Defense
Messiah was ranked tenth nationally at the end of last season in scoring defense, only allowing 50.2 points per game. The Falcons defense was as advertised in this one, as they were all over the Dutchmen all game long. They had 15 steals, with five of them coming from sophomore Sidney Stutzman. They held Lebanon Valley under 10 points in three of the four quarters, for a total field goal percentage of 23.6%.
 
Great Bench Depth
Every player on the roster saw the floor for the Falcons in the win, with eleven recording points. Six players saw their first action in a Falcon uniform, with Faith Grula leading the way for the freshmen with four points and a rebound.
 
What's Up Next
After the great start to the season, the Falcons travel to Annville to take on these very same Dutchmen tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m.