GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah women's basketball team cruised to a 69-39 victory over the York Spartans on Wednesday night to begin the conference slate with a comfortable victory. The Falcons put on a stellar defensive effort, allowing just 12 points in the first half.
 
Megan Zimmerman led nine different Falcon scorers with 14 points on the evening. Chloe Milanesi grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds in the contest.
 
With the victory, Messiah starts the MAC Commonwealth slate 1-0. They will be back in action on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
 
Stellar Defensive Effort
The Falcons controlled the opening half on the defensive end, allowing just 12 points in the first 20 minutes of play. York shot just 3-23 in the first half while turning the ball over seven times. While the Falcons were not necessarily efficient on the other end of the floor, going 9-32 in the first half, they hit seven threes and went 8-10 from the charity stripe to control the first half.
 
York knocked down a jumper on their opening possession, but Messiah ripped off 15-straight points in the next seven minutes to take a 15-2 lead with just under three minutes remaining in the opening quarter. The 15-0 run helped the Falcons to a 17-5 lead after 10 minutes of play.
 
Messiah's lead jumped to 16 points after back-to-back threes from Reese Harden and Sidney Stutzman just 90 seconds into the second quarter. After the Spartans pulled the Messiah lead back to 12 at 23-11, the Falcons ended the half on a 10-1 run across the final five minutes of the half to take a 33-12 lead at the break.
 
In total, nine Falcons scored in the first half with Sidney Stutzman's seven points leading the way.
 
Closing Out the Spartans
While the Spartans knocked down a few more shots in the second half, the game was never in doubt for the Falcons. Messiah led by at least 20 points for the entirety of the second half, growing their lead to as many as 37 points following a Reese Harden pull-up jumper with 5:30 remaining in the fourth quarter.
 
The dominating second half helped the Falcons to a 69-39 victory to start their MAC Commonwealth slate with a win.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Widener to take on the Pride at 1:00 p.m. in Chester, Pa.