COMEBACK THWARTED AS NO. 9 MESSIAH HOLDS ON OVER WOMEN'S HOOPS, 71-66

THE BASICS 

Score:     Emmanuel College, 66; Messiah College, 71
Records: Emmanuel College Saints (8-3, 0-0 GNAC)
               Messiah College Falcons (13-1)
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – Cardinal Gibbons HS
Date: Monday, December 31, 2018

THE LEAD: The No. 9 Messiah College women's basketball team held on for a 71-66 victory over Emmanuel College on Monday morning at Cardinal Gibbons HS in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

HOW IT HAPPENED  

• The Saints came out strong, pressing the first quarter which resulted in a 15-13 advantage heading into the second frame.
• The Falcons turned the tables on Emmanuel in the second quarter, outscoring the Saints 26-14 in the frame to take a 10 point lead into halftime (39-29), powered by eight points a piece from Alecia Rohrer (Manheim, Pa.) and Maci Thornton (Clarion, Pa.) in the quarter.
• Messiah continued to build the lead in the third, going ahead by 14 (49-35) with 6:32 left in the quarter before the Saints closed the quarter strong to pull within single digits at 59-51.
• Emmanuel continued to press and opened the final quarter on an 11-2 run fueled by four points from junior Yuleska Ramirez-Tejeda (Cambridge, Mass.) to tie the game at 62-62 with five minutes to play in regulation.
• After nearly two scoreless minutes of action, the Falcons took the lead for good on a jumper by Becca Isaac (Biglerville, Pa.) with 3:10 to play.
• Trailing by six with under 30 seconds to play, the Saints made things interesting as freshman Molly deBettencourt (Oak Bluffs, Mass.) nailed a three to cut the lead to 69-66 and during the play a foul was also called to send the Saints to the line for a pair of free throws in the bonus. The Saints missed both from the charity stripe, which could have made it a one point game and the Falcons sealed the 71-66 win on their end at the line.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• Ramirez-Tejeda led all scorers with 24 points to go along with a game-high 11 rebounds for her second double-double in as many days.
• Junior guard Kayla Weaver (West Haven, Conn.) finished with 14 points and a game-high seven assists.
• Thornton paced the Falcons with a team-high 17 points in 35 minutes of action.
• Messiah ended the game connecting on 17-for-21 free throws while the Saints struggled at the stripe, hitting just 13-for-29 attempts.
• Emmanuel owned a 44-35 rebounding advantage on the afternoon.
• The win was the 13^th straight for the Falcons.

UP NEXT

• The Saints are now idle until January 8 when they play host to UMass Boston at 5:30 PM.
• Messiah returns to action on January 9, traveling to Stevenson, Md. To take on Stevenson at 8:00 PM in MAC action.