GRANTHAM, Pa. – On Tuesday evening, the Messiah University women's basketball team used a strong team defensive performance to defeat the Red Devils of Dickinson College, 52-36. The Falcons jumped to a 10-4 lead after the first quarter and then outscored the Red Devils by 15 to push their lead to 30-9 at the half. The Red Devils started to mount a comeback in third outscoring the Falcons by eight to put the score at 37-24 entering the fourth. The Falcons though, outscored the Red Devils by three in the fourth to win 52-36. Reese Harden led the Falcons with 13 points and five assists. Liv Monturo added eight points and eight rebounds. Ainsley Bell also totaled eight points.
 
Up next, the Falcons travels to Gettysburg, Pa. to take on the twelfth-ranked Bullets of Gettysburg College on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 7:00 p.m.

First Quarter
After some back-and-forth play for the first couple minutes, the Falcons opened the scoring with a 6-0 run. Chloe Milanesi, Sydney Hoffman, and Liv Monturo each totaled two points to give the Falcons early lead. The Falcons then traded baskets with the Red Devils to put the score at 10-4 midway through the first. Both teams played suffocating defense for the remainder of the first, allowing no more baskets to keep the score at 10-4 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Second Quarter
The Falcons opened the second quarter outscoring the Red Devils, 7-5 in the first four minutes, with Charlotte Milanesi leading the Falcons with five points during the stretch. The Falcons dominated the final six minutes with a 13-0 run to give the Falcons a 30-9 lead at the half. Ainsley Bell and Reese Harden led the Falcons during the run with four points each.
 
Third Quarter
The Falcons and Red Devils each totaled five points in the first six minutes of the third quarter to put the Falcons up 35-14. Raegan Fogarty capped off the back-and-forth stretch with a jumper. The Red Devils looked to comeback and ended the third with a 10-2 run, to reduce the Falcons lead to 37-24 entering the final quarter. Sydney Hoffman ended the run with a jumper with six seconds remaining in the third.
 
Fourth Quarter
With the Red Devils gaining momentum into the final quarter, the Falcons looked to answer back. The Falcons did just that with a 9-2 run in the first five minutes of the fourth to push the Falcons lead to 46-26. Reese Harden led the Falcons during the run with five points. The Red Devils outscored the Falcons 10-6 in the final five minutes, but the Falcons lead was too strong, and they defeated the Red Devils, 52-36. Brooke Fenchel scored the final four points for the Falcons for her first career points as a Falcon.
 
Stats
Reese Harden led the Falcons with 13 points and five assists. Liv Monturo added eight points and eight rebounds. Ainsley Bell also totaled eight points. Charlotte Milanesi added five points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Chloe Milanesi, Sydney Hoffman, Hope Cook, and Brooke Fenchel each added four points. The Falcons shot 42.9 percent from the field and 22.2 from three. The Falcons defense was strong all night forcing the Red Devils to shoot 27.5 percent from the field and 6.3 percent from three.
 
Next
The Falcons travels to Gettysburg, Pa. to take on the twelfth-ranked Bullets of Gettysburg College on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 7:00 p.m.