First & Second Round Homepage - Includes all you need to know and links to stats, video, and audio
Grantham, PA - For the 14th-straight season Messiah College women's basketball is preparing to play in the NCAA Championships Tournament. The Falcons are hosting the First and Second Rounds for the first time since the 2009-10 season, and they will start on Friday night with a game against Lancaster Bible College.
The Falcons and Chargers are set to tip-off at 7:30 p.m., the second game of the Friday double-header. Gettysburg College and William Paterson University will start things off at 5:30 p.m. in Brubaker Auditorium.
The winners of Friday's games will oppose each other on Saturday at 6:00 p.m., with the winner to advance to next weekend's NCAA Sectionals.
See below for a snapshot of each team, and be sure to see the Statistics Comparion table at the bottom of the page.
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#16 Messiah College Falcons |
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Location: Grantham, PA
Coach: Mike Miller (27th season, 516-202 at Messiah)
2012-13 Record: 23-4, 16-2 Commonwealth Conference
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 15th
Last NCAA Appearance: 2012 Second Round loss, 53-50 at Mary Washington
How the Falcons got here: Messiah is appearing in their 14th-straight NCAA Championships Tournament, and their third-straight way of an at-large bid. Messiah lost to Lebanon Valley in the Commonwealth Championship 46-43 after defeating the Dutchmen twice during the regular-season. Their only other losses this season were to No. 1 DePauw and conference rivals Elizabethtown and Widener.
Conference Player of the Year Dori Gyori leads Messiah with 17.2 ppg and 8.7 rpg on 51.6% shooting. She's collected 11 double-doubles this season and is complemented well by her forward-partner Kira Maier (9.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg). On the perimeter, Taylor Miller (9.9 ppg, 3.3 apg), Nicky Hess (8.8 ppg, 3.4 apg), and Chelsea Danel (8.8 ppg, 3.5 apg) have combined to make 123 three's on 34.6% three-point shooting.
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The Falcons have held opponents to just 49.8 ppg this season while forcing 21.6 turnovers per game. As a team, Messiah shoots 42.4% from the field as they benefit from a balanced inside-out attack.
Messiah's bench has also been a strength this season, as no starter averaged over 30 minutes per game.
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Lancaster Bible College |
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Location: Lancaster, PA
Coach: Doug Helsel (3rd season, 51-32 at LBC)
2012-13 Record: 24-4, 16-2 Northeastern Athletic Conference
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 1st
Last NCAA Appearance: n/a
How the Chargers got here: Lancaster Bible arrives in their first-ever NCAA Championships Tournament by way of a championship victory over Keuka College in the NEAC. The Chargers rallied from a 12-point deficit in the second-half to win the title game. Brooklyn Wilson led all scorers with 20 points, which included five buckets from downtown. Lauren Heliger was named the NEAC Tournament MVP after grabbing 18 points, nine rebounds, and five assists against Keuka.
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LBC also arrives into their match-up with Messiah riding a 10-game winning streak, a stretch that included the program's first National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) East Region Championship since 2003. Altogether, the Chargers own a 16-0 record at home this season and an 8-4 record on the road.
This season, the Chargers are led primarily by a strong group of starters. Lauren Heliger, Aubrey Folger, Brooklyn Wilson, and Sarah Heilenman all averaged at least 29 minutes per game (mpg), with Emily Lloyd not too far behind at 25.1 mpg. Heliger leads LBC with 16.7 points per game (ppg) and 4.1 assists per game (apg), with Folger contributing 15.9 ppg and 9.2 rebounds per game (rpg) on 44.6% field-goal shooting. Wilson (10.2 ppg, 34.2% three-point shooting), Heilenman (9.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg), and Lloyd (8.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg) round out a starting group that has scored 93.2% of the team's points and collected 76.4% of the team's rebounds this season.
The Chargers have just one common opponent with Messiah College this season: Elizabethtown College. The Falcons went 2-1 against Etown this season with an average point differential of +7.67. LBC lost to Etown in their only match-up with the Blue Jays by a score of 80-53.
Snapshot History of Messiah and LBC
Messiah's Record: 2-1
Last Game Played: 1978 season, Lancaster Bible 75-74
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Gettysburg College |
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Location: Gettysburg, PA
Coach: Mike Kirkpatrick (24th season, 347-251 at Gettysburg)
2012-13 Record: 21-6, 16-4 Centennial
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 5th
Last NCAA Appearance: 2010 Sectional Semifinal loss, 71-68 (OT) vs. Babson
How the Bullets got here: Gettysburg College received an automatic qualifying-bid into the NCAA Championships Tournament after winning their first-ever Centennial Conference Championship with a 48-46 decision over Swarthmore. This season marks the fifth appearance for Gettysburg in the NCAA postseason.
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Gettysburg is led by Caroline Murphy (13.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg) and Jessica Porter (11.8 ppg, 7.0 rpg) and relies heavily on a defense that is holding opponents to an incredible 28.4% shooting from the field. The Bullets have allowed just 47.6 ppg to their opponents, though they themselves average just 56.3 ppg on 35.5% shooting.
Alyssa Isler (9.6 ppg) and Jenna Swope (5.3 ppg, 6.9 rpg) are additional offensive threats, with Isler and Porter being the Bullets' main weapons from three-point range. As a team, Gettysburg does not rely heavily on perimeter shooting as they've hit just 26.3% of shots from beyond the arc.
Snapshot History of Messiah and Gettysburg
Messiah's Record: 21-13
Last Game Played: Jan 3, 2012 - 67-58 Messiah win
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William Paterson University |
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Location: Wayne, NJ
Coach: Erin Monahan (20th season, 395-151 at WPU)
2012-13 Record: 20-7, 12-4 New Jersey Athletic Conference
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 11th
Last NCAA Appearance: 2012, Second Round loss, 64-63 at King's College
How the Pioneers got here: William Paterson enters their fourth-straight NCAA Championships Tournament appearance after receiving an at-large bid from the New Jersey Athletic Conference. They've 10 of their past 12 games entering this weekend, and sit with an overall record of 20-7.
Five of the Pioneers' seven losses have come against Top 20 teams, including three losses to Montclair State who won the NJAC over William Paterson. Amherst and Catholic represent the other losses to ranked opponents.
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Floriana Borova leads the team with a NJAC-leading 20.1 ppg to go along with 5.7 rpg, 5.0 apg, and 4.1 spg. The do-it-all guard is complemented by Dana Jeter and her 11.0 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 3.3 apg, and 2.5 spg. Jeter also averages 1.8 blocks per contest. Ashely Marfo adds 7.0 ppg and 8.1 rpg as the Pioneers average exactly 64.0 points per game by way of 36.6% shooting. Their perimeter defense stands out, as they hold opponets to just 28.8% shooting from downtown while forcing 23.4 turnovers per game.
The History of Messiah and William Paterson
Messiah's Record: Never faced William Paterson
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Statistics Comparison - Messiah, Lancaster Bible, Gettysburg, and William Paterson |
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Team |
FG |
FGA |
FG % |
Opponent FG % |
3FG |
3FGA |
3FG % |
Opponent 3FG % |
FT |
FTA |
FT% |
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Messiah |
658 |
1552 |
.424 |
.361 |
134 |
404 |
.332 |
.300 |
332 |
488 |
.680 |
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Lancaster Bible |
643 |
1674 |
.384 |
.349 |
100 |
303 |
.330 |
.253 |
420 |
499 |
.701 |
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Gettysburg |
544 |
1533 |
.355 |
.284 |
98 |
372 |
.263 |
.245 |
333 |
468 |
.712 |
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William Paterson |
650 |
1776 |
.366 |
.343 |
142 |
434 |
.327 |
.288 |
287 |
418 |
.687 |
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Team |
O-Reb |
D-Reb |
Total Reb |
Asst/Game |
TO/Game |
Opponent TO/game |
Team PPG |
Opponent PPG |
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Messiah |
11.6 |
25.4 |
37.0 |
16.3 |
14.9 |
21.6 |
66.0 |
49.8 |
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Lancaster Bible |
13.9 |
25.3 |
39.2 |
14.2 |
18.9 |
22.4 |
64.5 |
53.9 |
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Gettysburg |
12.0 |
30.1 |
42.1 |
12.9 |
17.0 |
18.1 |
56.3 |
47.9 |
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William Paterson |
18.0 |
26.4 |
44.4 |
14.6 |
20.1 |
23.4 |
64.0 |
56.0 |
