OWINGS MILLS, Pa. - The No. 20 Messiah women's basketball team trailed the Stevenson Mustangs 28-21 with 4:30 remaining in the second quarter. The Falcons immediately responded with a jumper from Leah Springer on their next possession to start a 12-0 run that gave them a lead they would not give up. Messiah eventually took a double-digit lead heading to the fourth quarter and cruised to a 68-57 victory over Stevenson.
 
Leah Springer led all scorers with a huge 20-point, 17-rebound performance while Haley Wagman finished with a career-high 18 points and Reese Harden tied her career-high with 14 points in the victory.
 
Messiah moves to 11-2 overall this season while improving their MAC Commonwealth record up 5-1 on the year. The Falcons will be back in action when they host the Widener Pride on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena.
 
Back-and-Forth Start
The first 10 minutes of Wednesday's game was a true back-and-forth battle with the Falcons and Mustangs trading nearly every other bucket for the entirety of the quarter. Both teams held one three-point lead, but the rest of the period was played within two points one way or another. Messiah took their three-point lead after a three from Chole Milanesi with 6:59 remaining in the period to make it a 5-2 advantage.
 
For the next six minutes, the game was within two points until Stevenson's Aysia Ferguson connected on a three-point play with 56 seconds left in the quarter. Ferguson's and-one play made it an 18-15 game, but Milanesi hit a jumper with just seconds left in the period to pull Messiah within one at 18-17 heading to the second.
 
Second-Quarter Runs
Stevenson scored the first bucket of the second quarter, but Morgan Adams answered with a jumper before a 6-0 run from the Mustangs opened up the largest lead of the game at 26-19.
 
The lead was still seven midway through the period when Leah Springer knocked down a jumper off a feed from Reese Harden to start a 10-0 Messiah run to end the half. Springer scored all 10 points during the run with Haley Wagman dishing out a pair of assists. Springer's run gave Messiah a three-point, 31-28 lead heading into the half.
 
Falcons Fly Through Third
Messiah's best quarter came in the third where they outscored the Mustangs 23-15. Stevenson actually cut Messiah's lead to just one at 33-32 less than two minutes into the quarter. Over the next three minutes, Messiah went on a swift 12-3 run to take their first double-digit lead of the game. Highlighting the run was five points from Haley Wagman and the second three of the season for Morgan Adams.
 
Stevenson would pull with seven points later in the quarter, but that was as close as they would get for remainder of the game.
 
Messiah took a 54-43 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
 
Cruising Through the Fourth
Holding an 11-point lead at the end of the third quarter, Messiah quickly made it a 58-43 advantage after early buckets from Haley Wagman and Reese Harden in the fourth quarter. The Falcons ballooned their lead to as many as 16 points on three occasions in the quarter as the went on for the 68-57 victory.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action this weekend at a bit of a non-traditional time. Messiah will host the Widener Pride on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m., a day later than normal as Messiah is slated to host the MAC Wrestling Championships all day on Saturday in Hitchcock Arena.