Reading, PA - Senior Nicky Hess scored 10 first-half points to lead Messiah to a 37-20 lead on Saturday, as the Falcons defeated Alvernia University on the road 66-49. Hess finished with 12 points on 4-8 shooting, as classmate Dori Gyori added a game-high 15 points and game-high six rebounds.
 
The Falcons, ranked No. 8 in the most recent ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches' Poll, outscored the Crusaders 22-9 in the final 7:41 of the first-half to turn a 15-11 advantage into a commanding halftime lead. Hess scored 10 points in the frame on 3-7 shooting, including 2-4 from downtown. Junior Taylor Miller also stood out for the Falcons in the first-half, shooting a perfect 3-3 from the field (2-2 from deep) to account for all eight of her points on the afternoon.
 
The strong play from Hess and Miller proved especially beneficial for Messiah, as they were playing without senior Kira Maier. The forceful forward—who had averaged 14.5 points per game over her last four contests—missed the game in favor of resting a slight injury.
 
Without Maier in the lineup, the Crusaders did all they could to hound Gyori on the inside. They held the Falcons' leading scorer to just four points in the first half, as Gyori compounded problems with her second foul at the 8:06 mark of the first-half.
 
Mostly unfazed, the Falcons took a 17-11 lead on a basket by Gyori with under eight minutes to play before the intermission. It would be the start of a 22-9 run, as Hess and Miller (2) followed up Gyori's score with three-pointes on three-straight Messiah possessions. Hess would add her second bucket from downtown later in the streak as the Falcons also received six crucial points—all on free-throws— from backup forward Emily Martz in the frame.
 
In the second-half, Messiah would never lead by less than 12 as they pushed their lead to as many as 22 points. Gyori scored 11 points after the break, wearing down the Crusaders' defense by scoring eight of her team's first 10 points.
 
As a team, the Falcons made exactly 10 baskets in each half, doing so on 22 attempts in the first-half (45.5%) and 21 attempts in the second-half (47.6%). They also shot 8-20 from three-point range (40%), with sophomore Sienna Wisse making all three of her attempts for her nine points. Five Falcons—Gyori, Hess, Miller, Martz, and Wisse—scored at least eight points, with Chelsea Danel and Hannah Nichols adding six points and five points, respectively.
 
Chelsea Ebersole (14 points) and Kelsey Wolf (12 points) led the Crusaders in scoring, as Alvernia managed to turn the ball over just 15 times—one less than Messiah. But the Falcons converted the host's giveaways in 25 points while Alvernia scored just 12 points off of Messiah's turnovers.
 
The win for Messiah moves them to a perfect 6-0 in the Commonwealth, as they improve to 12-1 overall.
 
Alvernia falls to 2-3 in the Commonwealth and 4-6 overall.
 
The Falcons will next play on Wednesday, Jan. 9, when they host Stevenson University at 6:00 p.m. The game will be the first match-up of the two teams since Stevenson joined the Commonwealth Conference.