GRANTHAM, Pa. – On Saturday afternoon, the Messiah University women's basketball team used a dominant overall effort to defeat the Eagles of Eastern University, 71-40. The Falcons opened the first quarter with a 20-11 lead. The Falcons ended the half strong outscoring the Eagles 16-5 to take a 36-16 in the break. The third quarter was evenly matched, but the Falcons outscored the Eagles by three to extend their lead to 23 heading into the final quarter. The Falcons capped off the win outscoring the Eagles by eight to earn the 71-40 win. Liv Monturo led the Falcons with 16 points and seven rebounds. Chloe Milanesi totaled 15 points, seven rebounds, four steals, two assists, and a block. Reese Harden added 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and four blocks.
 
Up next, the Falcons host the Mustangs of Stevenson University on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 7:00 p.m.

First Quarter
After some back-and-forth play to open the game, the Falcons went on a quick 6-0 to give Messiah a 10-4 lead with 5:29 to go in the first quarter. Chloe Milanesi started the run with a three and Reese Harden capped off the run with a free throw. The Eagles answered back with a 7-0 run, but the Falcons finished the first with a 10-0 run to give the Falcons a 20-11 lead at the end of the first. Raegan Fogarty started the run with a pair of free throws and Charlotte Milanesi ended the run with a layup with four seconds remaining in the quarter.
 
Second Quarter
The scoring slowed down to start the second quarter, with Liv Monturo scoring four points and Eastern scoring on a three to put the Falcons up 24-14 with just under five minutes remaining in the half. The Falcons ramped up the scoring to end the half with a 12-2 run to push their lead to 36-16 at the break. The run was led by seven points from Chloe Milanesi and a three from Hope Cook.
 
Third Quarter
The Falcons opened the second half with a 7-2 run to extend their lead to 25. The run started with a jumper from Reese Harden and ended with a three from Chloe Milanesi. The Eagles responded with a 7-0 run to reduce the Falcons lead to 18 with two minutes remaining in the third. The Falcons ended the third with an 8-3 run to give Messiah a 51-28 lead heading into the final quarter. The run was led by Reese Harden with five points and Hope Cook with three points.
 
Fourth Quarter
The Falcons opened the fourth quarter strong with a 14-2 run to extend their lead to 65-30 with five minutes remaining in the game. The run started with a three from Reese Harden and ended with a three from Justine Forbes. The Eagles outscored the Falcons 10-6 to end the game, but the Falcons lead was too big, and Messiah earned the 71-40 win. Ainsley Bell led the Falcons during the final five minutes of the game with four points.
 
Stats
Liv Monturo led the Falcons with 16 points and seven rebounds. Chloe Milanesi totaled 15 points, seven rebounds, four steals, two assists, and a block. Reese Harden added 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and four blocks. Charlotte Milanesi also totaled eight points, five assists, two rebounds, and two steals. The Falcons shot 47.5 percent from the field and 40 percent from three. Eastern shot 21.9 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from three. The Falcons defense made getting any open looks tough for the Eagles, but also forced 20 turnovers on the afternoon.
 
Next
The Falcons host the Mustangs of Stevenson University on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 7:00 p.m.