GRANTHAM, Pa. – In a tight defensive battle, the Lycoming College women's basketball team took an eight-point fourth quarter lead, but seventh-ranked Messiah College was able to overcome it with a fourth-quarter surge, posting a 53-46 win in the MAC Commonwealth Championship final on Saturday, Feb. 23, at Hitchcock Arena.
The Warriors finished their season 18-9 overall, advancing to a title game for just the third time in program history, winning the second most games in program history and setting a program record by allowing just 57.3 points per game.
Messiah (26-1 overall) has earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship next week, as it extended its school-record winning streak to 26 games.
Coming out halftime down by four points, the Warriors took off in the third quarter, scoring nine straight points early in the period, with junior
Kayla Kline (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg) posting the last four points of the run to give Lycoming a 26-23 lead with 6:05 left. Messiah tied the game at 26, but Lycoming kept them at bay, using the free throw line to close the quarter on a 6-1 run to take a 37-31 lead into the final 10 minutes.
Junior
Akilah McFadden (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg) scored on the break to start the fourth quarter and make it 39-31, but Messiah used a 12-2 run over the next 4:30 to take a 43-41 lead off an old-fashioned 3-point play from Alecia Rohrer, and the Falcons kept the run going, leading 53-44 in the final minute before Lycoming scored the final three points of the game.
In the first quarter, Lycoming jumped out to a 10-5 lead before Messiah outscored the Warriors, 16-7, in the second period to take a 21-17 lead into the locker room.
Kline finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and two blocks to lead the Warriors. McFadded added eight points, eight rebounds and two steals and sophomore
Erica Lutz (Bernville, Pa./Hamburg) posted six points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Both senior
Becca Painter (Elverson, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) and freshman
Kelly Vuz (Blairstown, N.J./North Warren Regional) each had six points, with Painter also posting two blocks.
Maci Thornton led the Falcons with 23 points, six rebounds and four steals and Alecia Rohrer was named tournament MVP after notching 13 points, eight rebounds and two steals.
The Warriors outrebounded Messiah, 39-29, but Messiah forced Lycoming into 23 turnovers, which led to 18 points. The Warriors shot 33 percent (13-of-40) from the field and held the Falcons to just 28 percent (15-of-54).
