Grantham, PA - No. 12 Messiah College earned a big win over Commonwealth rival Lebanon Valley on Saturday, defeating the No. 20 Dutchmen behind impressive perimeter shooting and a balanced attack. Four Falcons scored in double-figures as Messiah won 55-48 and moved to 15-1 in the conference.

Taylor Miller led the Falcons with 12 points, with all four of her three-pointers coming in the first half. Chelsea Danel scored 11 points and dished out six assists as Messiah defeated LVC for the second time this season.
 
The win over LVC marks the first time the Falcons have swept the regular-season matchups since the 2008-09 season.
 
"This is a big win for us because we want to be playing at our best at this time of the season," head coach Mike Miller said. "We've had adversity this season, so we're excited that we're playing as a team that has bought into our program and each other."
 
Messiah started off Saturday's game in sloppy fashion, as they went 0-3 with four turnovers on their first six possessions. Miller settled the Falcons down by hitting three-pointers on back-to-back possessions, tying the game at six. Hannah Nichols hit a triple of her own a moment later and, after a free-throw by Kira Maier made it 10-9 Falcons with 14:17 left, Miller added another bucket from downtown.
 
"The timing of her shots was really good for us," Miller said of his daughter's scores from downtown. "It helped us mentally because we could look up and see that we're ahead after a rough start. They were key for our team."
 
Ahead 13-11, Messiah started to build a lead. Danel broke through a 1-2-2 press from the Dutchmen to attack into the paint, dishing left to Nichols for the paint score. On their next two possessions, Danel and Miller each collected assists on kick-outs to Hess for three-point scores.
 
Now up 21-11, Danel got into the action from the perimeter with the Falcons' seventh triple of the half to put Messiah ahead by 13 points.
 
"Those were big shots for us, because they were taking away our post play,"Miller said of his team's shooting from behind the arc. "(LVC) wants to pack it in and then closeout on the perimeter, and we were able to get good looks from the outside."
 
While building the early advantage, Messiah's defense stayed strong. They forced a handful of Dutchmen turnovers—including a shot clock violation—and held LVC scoreless for a stretch of 9:32. Two free-throws by Caitlin Bach ended the Dutchmen drought with 4:14 left before the break.
 
After going through halftime ahead 27-20, Messiah started the second-half quickly behind Dori Gyori. The All-Commonwealth forward was held scoreless in the first-half, but now scored six of the Falcons' first eight points as they built a 35-24 lead.
 
Tierney Hiltz led the response for LVC, putting together a personal 6-0 run to draw the Dutchmen to within 35-30. Her final bucket in the stretch came in the full-court, as LVC pitched it ahead off a Messiah turnover.
 
With the LVC crowd again starting to buzz, Maier hit two-straight jumpers—one from the left corner and the other from the top of the key—to regain the nine-point lead.
 
"Dori and Kira were really big for us in the second-half," Miller said of the forward tandem. "Our shooting forced their defenders to come out on us, and that allowed our forwards to get involved. They made some big buckets."
 
The big buckets continued for Gyori, too, as she responded to two jumpers from Caitlin Bach with two more scores of her own to keep the Falcons in front 43-35 with 8:43 remaining. After a jumper by Renee Fritz made it a six-point game, Danel nailed a three-pointer from the left corner.
 
"Chelsea's three-pointer was a big shot for her," Miller said. "The defense sagged off of her to take away the post feed and she drilled the shot. It was a great shot, and a product of our balanced offense."
 
The Dutchmen drew to within as little as four points only once the rest of the way, though the atmosphere remained tense. The Falcons hit three of four free-throw attempts in the final minute to seal the win.
 
Hiltz led the Dutchmen with 17 points to go along with nine rebounds and three assists. Bach scored 11 points, and grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds. Bach had six turnovers, however—almost a third of the 19 giveaways from LVC.
 
Hess and Gyori each scored 10 points, joining Miller and Danel in double-figures. Gyori added six rebounds, and now as 906 career boards as the Falcons' all-time leading rebounder.
 
Maier chipped in with seven points and seven rebounds, as she combined with Gyori for 16 second-half points.
 
The win moves Messiah to 21-2 overall, with Lebanon Valley falling to 19-4. The Dutchmen are also now 13-3 in the Commonwealth, good for third place behind Messiah and Widener (19-4, 14-2).
 
The Falcons, who are also ranked No. 11 in the D3Hoops.com Top 25 poll, will travel to Widener University next week Tuesday, Feb. 12, to take on the Pride.