Box Score
Chester, PA - After falling behind 28-17 at the half on the road at Widener, the Messiah College Falcons stunned the Pride by outscoring their host 39-21 in the second half to take a 56-49 win. The decision solidifies the Falcons' place as the #2 seed in next week's Commonwealth Championships.
A defensive battle from the beginning, each team collected a pair of baskets and a few free throws before the 14:00 mark of the first half. At that point, Widener would score eight of the next 10 points to take a 14-8 lead. Before the half was over, they ran off eight straight points to take 28-17 lead at the intermission.
Although the tape would tell a different story, Messiah head coach
Mike Miller said he didn't have much to say to his team at halftime.
"We didn't go over a lot of 'Xs' and 'Os' because we didn't much to adjust," Miller said. "Our players wanted to play better and make better decisions, and they knew they were capable of getting the job done. The credit goes to them for recognizing that they could do better. My halftime speech was pretty weak."
Just five minutes into the second half, the women cut Widener's lead from 11 to four points, with their first nine points being scored by Gyori and Hess. In trying to regain the game's momentum, Widener managed to take a 38-30 lead with 13:06 remaining. But over the next nine minutes, the Pride would fall victim to an impressive run by the Falcons.
Behind nine more points from Hess, and points from four others, the Falcons ran off a 19-2 run to take a 49-40 lead. The lead was secured for the first, and last, time when junior guard
Jordan Seiz banked in a shot as the possession clock was expiring.
"We went from 14 turnovers (in the first half) to five (in the second half), which gave us more possessions to work with," said Miller. "Then we hit some outside shots and, when we hit a couple of those, we became a lot more efficient.
"On the other end of the court, Widener started getting tired because they had to play defense the whole time," he continued. "I think they got frustrated by not being able to score on us over that stretch."
The Falcons maintained their lead for the rest of the game, holding on for a 56-49 victory. The victory marked the fourth in a row for Messiah, which improved to 20-4 (11-2) on the season.
Messiah was led in scoring by junior
Dori Gyori's 20 points. Her tally put her over the 1,000-point mark for her career-- the 18th player in Messiah women's basketbal history to reach the milestone. Gyori also collected a game-high 11 rebounds.*
"We've had a lot of turmoil in the past month with injuries and things like that, and Dori has been a rock," said Miller. "It's really neat to see her grow up, and her basketball maturity since Christmas has just been unbelievable. She's really gotten us through some tough times, and she's helped the team come out on top."
Junior
Nicky Hess scored 19 points on 8-12 shooting, including 3-6 from three-point range. Classmate
Kira Maier grabbed nine rebounds to go along with eight steals.
"I can't say how many times I have stopped during practice or a game to just thank God that Dori is on my team," said Maier, reflecting on the win and Dori's accomplishment. "She refuses to give up and there is never a second that she isn't giving everything that she has to playing the game. The time that she puts in after hours is incredible as is her dedication to making a winning team on the court and off the court."
After the game, Miller couldn't help but continue reflecting on how his "winning" team receives contributions from their entire roster. On this night, Hess and Maier stood out.
"Nicky had her best half of the year in the second half," said Miller. "She played really good defense on their point guard and she put the ball in the basket. We're really hoping she can build on that. As for Kira, she didn't score a lot, but she basically dominated the game in the second half on defense. Her rebounding and steals were as much of a key as anything."
With the win, Messiah sweeps the regular season home-and-home with Widener, giving the Falcons the advantage in any tiebreaker scenario for the postseason. The Falcons will host either Elizabethtown or Widener-- the two teams Messiah finishes the regular season against-- on Wednesday, February 22. Messiah plays Elizabethtown this Saturday, February 18.
"I'm not really thinking about it," said Miller, commenting on the repetitiveness of the upcoming schedule. "It's not about looking back. It's about looking forward. Based on everything that has happened to our program, getting to host a playoff game bodes really well for us. We're really playing with a lot of confidence right now, so we're excited to continue playing."
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Dori Gyori?
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