GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah women's basketball team survived a scare against the Hood Blazers on Wednesday night. Playing in a tight game throughout, the Falcons were able to earn a hard-fought, four-point victory over the Blazers by a final score of 55-51. Morgan Adams was the story for the Falcons, willing Messiah to victory with an impressive 19-point, 15-rebound performance for her second double-double of the season.
 
Messiah forced 19 Blazers' turnovers, however 17 offensive rebounds resulted in 16 second-chance points that kept Hood neck-and-neck with the Falcons. Messiah used an 8-2 run in the middle of the fourth quarter to flip a 39-38 Hood lead into a 46-41 advantage for the Falcons. Down the stretch, Messiah was able to hold off the charging Blazers with free throws, eventually claiming the 55-51 victory. The win, moves Messiah to 4-0 in the MAC Commonwealth.
 
The Falcons will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to St. Davids, Pa. for a contest with the Eastern Eagles at 1:00 p.m.
 
How It Happened
The Falcons took an 8-4 lead midway through the opening quarter, but a 10-2 Hood run put the Blazers in front by four at 14-10 with under two minutes left in the half. Messiah scored the final two buckets of the quarter with jumpers from Morgan Adams to tie the game at 14-14 heading to the second quarter. The back-to-back jumpers from Adams accounted for four of her game-high 19 points on the evening.
 
Messiah's best quarter of the game came in the second when the Falcons outscored the Blazers 15-8 in the period. After the first three minutes went back-and-forth with the two sides trading buckets, Messiah ripped off a 10-2 run to end the quarter and take a 29-22 lead into the break. Chloe Milanesi and Morgan Adams led the Falcons during the burst with four points each.
 
Chloe Milanesi started the second half with a jumper to put Messiah up by nine, their largest lead of the game at 31-22, but Hood commanded the majority of the third quarter. The Blazers quickly cut Messiah's lead to two points at 31-19 after a 7-0 run in just over two minutes.
 
After Messiah jumped back up by six, following a Morgan Adams jumper with 3:19 remaining in the period, Hood responded with a free throw and a Lele Wright three to trim the Falcons' lead back to two at 37-35 heading to the fourth.
 
A high-scoring fourth quarter was in store as the Blazers looked for their first-ever victory over Messiah. Hood took a 39-38 lead early in the fourth, but a jumper from Reese Harden put the lead back in the Falcons' hands. While their lead never grew larger than six points, Messiah held the lead for the final 7:46 of the game. Hood cut the lead to a single possession on multiple occasions, but were unable to make the game-tying or go-ahead shot down the stretch.
 
As a result, the Falcons held on for the 55-51 victory to improve to 4-0 in the conference and 11-2 overall on the season.
 
As mentioned, Morgan Adams had a huge game with 19 points, 15 rebounds, three blocks, two assists, and a steal. Chloe Milanesi joined Adams in double figures with 12 points on the night.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will now head to Eastern University for a contest against the Eastern Eagles at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles are 2-9 on the season and 0-4 in the MAC Commonwealth.