Grantham, PA – Messiah College battled hard to defeat William Paterson 78-70 on Saturday, as a crucial run midway through the second-half propelled them through the Second Round of the NCAA Championships Tournament. The win moves Messiah into the Sweet 16 for the first time since they finished as National Runner-Up in 2008.
 
Dori Gyori and Kira Maier combined for 41 points in the win, as they each collected a double-double to lead the Falcons. Taylor Miller and Nicky Hess added 16 points and 12 points, respectively.
 
With the win, Messiah advances to face Commonwealth foe Widener University in the Sweet 16. The Pride defeated Catholic University 57-56 on Saturday to qualify for the match-up with the Falcons.
 
Messiah's win over William Paterson came in the teams' first-ever match-up with each other. At the start of the game the Pioneers came out looking comfortable on the Falcons' home court, taking a 16-5 lead after just 5:51 of play.
 
The Pioneers' early lead was built on the shoulders of leading scorer Floriana Borova, as she rebounded from a 1-14 shooting performance on Friday to contribute 10 of their first 16 points—one more point than she had in Friday's win over Gettysburg.  
 
"The start to the game really surprised me," said Messiah head coach Mike Miller. "We were free and ready to play, and when the jump went up everyone started to overthink. 'Where should I be?' and 'What should I do?' instead of just playing."
 
When Messiah cut the deficit to 16-8, Borova kept hitting for the Pioneers; with the shot clock winding down in the half-court, she shot-faked and leaned under defender Nicky Hess for a long two-pointer that gave William Paterson an 18-8 lead.
 
At that point in the game, she had scored or assisted on 16 of her team's 18 total points, and it seemed as if she was prepared for a big night.
 
"I was disappointed with how we started out, especially defensively on Borova," Miller said. "It was just one person, it was our entire team. We didn't have (a good scout) on them against man defense, because they see a lot of zone. But we still gave up shots and situations for her that we wanted to take away."
 
Now trailing by double-digits early, Messiah finally began to settle into the game. Hess quickly followed Borova's leaning jumper with a three-pointer from the left side, with Kira Maier then hitting an 18-foot jumper off a kick-out from Dori Gyori. After the Falcons and Pioneers traded a basket, Gyori hit a mid-range jumper to bring Messiah to within 20-18.
 
Now on a 10-2 run, Messiah wasn't finished. With the shot clock running out and the ball moving around the perimeter, Hess dribbled to the right wing for a fadeaway jumper that went cleanly through the net. The buzzer-beating basket tied the game at 20-20 and sent the Falcons' fans into an ovation.
 
"Kira willed us back into that game," Miller said, commenting on the forward's five points in the 12-4 run. "She made 'basketball' plays out there and freed us up to play our game."
 
As the teams battled back-and-forth, Maier hit another mid-range jumper to make it 24-23 in favor of the Pioneers. After a missed jumper by Borova, Taylor Miller hit a transition jumper on the right wing to give the Falcons their first lead of the night at 25-24 with 7:17 remaining in the first-half.
 
The teams continued to trade baskets for the remaining first-half minutes, with Taylor Miller providing another shot clock-beating highlight—a three-pointer—to put Messiah up 36-33. The Falcons would take a 38-35 lead into halftime.
 
Maier led Messiah at the half with 14 points, with Borova cooling off a bit and sitting at 17 points on 6-15 shooting. Borova did have four assists at the break, as she was involved in 25 of the Pioneers' 35 points.
 
"I had nothing negative to tell our team at the half," said William Paterson head coach Erin Monahan. "Just to keep going, and to work for one more rebound each time. (Messiah) had 12 points from the free-throw line in the first-half, so we wanted to keep them away from the rebounds."
 
The second-half started with more back-and-forth play, though Gyori started to get going for Messiah. She drove left and completed a three-point play to put Messiah up 41-38, and soon after collected another score down low for a 47-42 advantage. The second bucket by Gyori came against the Pioneers' 2-3 zone, which they had switched to on the previous possession.
 
William Paterson stayed in the zone for just a few more trips, but didn't switch out before the Falcons scored five more points on two more possessions. A three-pointer by Hess put the Falcons up 52-46 to cap off the run.
 
"They switched to their zone soon after a media timeout, and we were ready for their man-to-man," said Miller. "I think they showed the zone too early, because we worked our zone concepts to get some big shots. I'm sure that's a short stretch that they regret."
 
The Pioneers quickly returned to their man-to-man defense, but as Miller alluded to, it may have been a minute or two too late. After a jumper by Brittany Ennis made it a 52-48 game, Messiah ran off eight straight points to take a 12-point lead.
 
Chelsea Danel put an exclamation point on the run by leading a break that saw the ball move from Danel to Hess and then to Maier, and then back to Danel for a jumper in the left corner.
 
William Paterson responded with a timeout, sending Brubaker Auditorium into an eruption of support for their Falcons.
 
Coming out of the timeout, Borova did score five points to bring her team to within 60-53, but they would get no closer the rest of the way. A backdoor finish by Miller soon put the Falcons up 66-55, as they held a double-digit lead until the final seconds.
 
"When we went up ten or twelve points, I thought (William Paterson) lost their fight a little bit," Miller said. "You could tell that we had worn them down at that point."

The final horn sounded simultaneously with another ovation from the fans, with Messiah celebrating their trip to the NCAA Sweet 16.
 
"Our girls did a tremendous job tonight, and it's an exciting opportunity for us," Miller said, commenting on the win. "We're excited to keep playing."
 
The Falcons win came in somewhat uncharacteristic fashion, as they shot just 3-16 from three-point range. Messiah did finish with 43.1% shooting overall, however, as they also scored 25 points at the free-throw line. Many of the Falcons' free-throws came in the final minutes as William Paterson was fouling to stop the clock.
 
"We didn't shoot too well from outside, and that's not like us," Miller said. "But Kira and Dori combined for 41 points, so we'll take that."
 
Maier (18 points) tied Ashley Marfo of William Paterson with a game-high 13 rebounds, as Gyori (23 points) added 11 boards.
 
Borova finished with a game-high 38 points for the Pioneers, as she shot 15-36 from the field. Fifteen of her 21 points in the second-half came after Messiah took their 60-48 lead, as she tried to carry her fatigued team back into the game.

Outside of Borova, William Paterson managed just 11-30 shooting from the field overall as Messiah's team defense limited the Pioneers' clean looks at the rim. Kristine Jackiewicz was among them, as she was limited to just two points after scoring a career-high 21 points the night before.
 
The Messiah defense, noticeably, also disrupted the Pioneers' offense in the second-half, causing turnovers and, on more than one occasion, forcing Borova to travel as she tried to find her teammates.
 
"I don't think we've ever had someone put up those points—or shots—against us before," Miller said, commenting on Borova's performance. "We didn't have a game plan to let her do that, but we did manage to limit everyone else."
 
"She started launching a number of shots in the second-half," he continued. "And we felt that if it's going to take that many shots to get those points, we're OK with that."
 
The loss drops William Paterson to 21-8 on the season, with six of the Pioneers' eight losses coming to ranked opponents.
 
Messiah, ranked No. 16 in the most recent ESPN/USA Coaches Top 25 Poll and No. 19 in the most recent D3Hoops.com Top 25 Poll, moves to 25-4 with the win.
 
As mentioned, Messiah and Widener will meet in the Sweet 16 game on Friday, Mar. 8. The Falcons and Pride split two regular-season games this season, with each team winning on their respective home court.
 
The location for the game will be announced early next week by the NCAA.