BOX SCORE

Grantham, Pa. (Jan. 25, 2012) – Alvernia University senior Allie Toczylowski (Mantua, N.J./Clearview Regional) scored on a layup with 3:21 to play forcing a 61-all tie, but Messiah College (15-3, 6-1) scored the last nine points of the game for a 70-61 win over the Crusaders (8-9, 2-5) in Commonwealth Conference women's basketball action at Messiah.

On the layup Toczylowski pulled within two points of 1,000 for her career.  She will get her first crack at the milestone on Alumni Day this Saturday when the Crusaders host Widener for a doubleheader.  She'll be looking to become the 11th women's player in school history to reach the mark and will likely have the opportunity to do it with most of them in attendance.

The loss drops the Crusaders to two games behind fourth place Widener University after the first cycle through the league.  With one more game against each of the seven conference opponents the Crusaders will need a strong second half—and possibly some help—to keep the streak of playoff appearances alive.  Enter the season the streak dates back to the 1990-91 season—21 straight years.

The Crusaders were poised to finish the first half of the conference schedule with an upset of the Falcons when they took a nine-point lead early in the second half, but Messiah came back with five straight and polished off a 14-3 run that leveled the score at 41-all with 11:27 to play.

Neither team led by more than a bucket over the next five minutes until Alvernia senior Angela Altemose (Pottsville, Pa./Nativity BVM) capped a 6-0 run to put the Crusaders up four, 54-50 with 6:03 to play.

It was back-and-forth for the next three minutes then Messiah's Dori Gyori broke the 61-all tie with three straight points—she finished with a game and career-high 26.  The Crusaders had chances, but while they were off the mark twice from the arc the Falcons scored inside and from the free throw line to extend the lead to five points and Taylor Miller hit four from the line in the closing seconds for the final margin.

Alvernia got a team-high 19 from Toczylowski, 14 from Altemose who is within 53 of reach 1,000 points herself, and a dozen from Kelli McIntyre (Orwigsburg, Pa./Blue Mountain).

Messiah 70, Alvernia 61