Box Score
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – A strong-shooting second half and 20 points from Dori Gyori was enough to lead Messiah past the Elizabethtown College women's basketball team, 62-51, in Commonwealth Conference action at Thompson Gymnasium Thursday evening.
The Blue Jays (11-8, 3-6) fell behind by as many as 12 points in the first half. Messiah used a stretch where it hit 6-of-10 shots to build a 22-10 lead with 10:07 to play in the half. Chelsea Danel and Jordan Seiz each hit treys in the run, while Kira Maier added four points.
E-town was able to salvage its opening 20 minutes, however. Four points from Kelly Sauerzopf, a layup from Kaity Snyder and a 3-pointer by Katy Fogel gave the Jays a 9-0 run over the last 4:35 of the half, and left the home team down just one, 31-30, at the break.
Gyori was plagued by foul trouble in the first half, but she was able to play efficiently in the second and keep herself on the floor for a majority of the half. With the 6-foot-2 sophomore on the floor, Messiah was able to spread the floor and open up some of its other floor threats. By the 7:05 mark the Falcons (13-6, 7-2) had re-built their lead to 11 at 45-34.
Despite the best efforts of Snyder, E-town could not trim the lead under five over the remaining 13 minutes. Snyder nearly put up her eighth double-double of the season, as she finished with 22 points (a game-high) and nine rebounds. The reigning Commonwealth Conference Player of the Week did her damage on 9-of-16 shooting.
With Gyori on the bench for half of the first half, E-town was able to neutralize Messiah's inside game. The Falcons outscored E-town by a slim 26-24 margin in the game.
Elizabethtown shot 33.9 percent for the game, while Messiah was a bit better at 46 percent. The Falcons also managed to knock down 11 3-pointers to E-town's eight. E-town was only able to muster three bench points all night, and they came on Fogel's triple.
The win was the 20th straight for Messiah over Elizabethtown. Yvonne Kauffman's club last downed the Falcons Feb. 24, 2001.
Megan Strohman added 10 points to go along with Snyder's 22. Snyder also had a game-high five steals. Stephanie Ellwood scored seven points and also secured six boards. Sauerzopf finished with six for E-town, which was held to its lowest scoring output since facing Messiah back in January.
Maier finished with 11 points for the visitors, while Michele Schleich grabbed 10 rebounds and netted eight points. Gyori collected a double-double with 10 boards in addition to her 20 points.
E-town heads to Reading Saturday looking to get back into the win column. The Jays will face Albright at 2 p.m.