GRANTHAM, Pa. — The last time the Elizabethtown College women's basketball team defeated Messiah, this group of Blue Jays were still in elementary school. E-town put a 22-game losing streak, and 11-game road losing streak to Messiah in the rear-view mirror Wednesday evening, climbing out of an eight-point hole at halftime to shock the fifth-ranked Falcons, 62-57, in a Commonwealth Conference game at Brubaker Gymnasium.

After trailing for large portions of the first half and most of the second, Elizabethtown (9-7, 7-4 CC) chipped away at the Falcons' lead and finally pulled in front after back-to-back layups from Alyssa Aichele with just under six minutes remaining in the game.

Messiah (16-2, 10-1 CC), ranked No. 5 in the country in both the WBCA/USA Today Sports Division III and d3hoops.com Top 25 polls, came into the game having beaten the Blue Jays in every game since a 72-59 defeat Feb. 24, 2001, in the Middle Atlantic Conference Championship game in Grantham. With a 29-21 lead at the break, it seemed like the Falcons would extend that streak to 23.

E-town had other ideas, however. After Chelsea Danel's three-pointer extended the Falcons' lead to 11, 32-21, right out of halftime, the Jays dug in and battled their way back into the game. Every time it looked like Messiah would run away with it, E-town would answer.

The Falcons' lead stood at an even 10, 47-37, with 10:42 to go. Over the next two minutes, the Jays cut the advantage down to one. Messiah would continue to hold the lead, but could not push it to more than three. After Taylor Kreider's two foul shots, Aichele converted two layups to put E-town in front, 52-49, with 5:37 left in the game.

The Jays would go up by as many as five with just over two minutes to go, but four-straight points from Messiah's leading scorer Dori Gyori (20 points) brought the Falcons back to within a point as they tried to avoid the upset.

Aichele hit two big free throws with 24 seconds remaining, coming after a Kreider steal, to give the Jays a three-point cushion, 60-57. After a Messiah timeout, Kira Maier missed a layup, got her own rebound and gave it up to Gyori, who missed a jumper of her own. Nadine Yunginger was then fouled with one second left. She hit two foul shots of her own, completing the comeback and providing the contest's final margin of victory, 62-57, for Elizabethtown's seventh-straight win.

Kreider led the way with 23 points (9-for-15), eight rebounds, and three steals. Kendra Beittel continued her solid play of late, notching double figures in her third-straight game. She finished with 12 points, including 2-for-2 from beyond the arc. Taylor Alwine contributed eight points and seven rebounds, while Yunginger finished with seven points, four boards, three steals and two free throws that iced the game with one second remaining.

E-town's last win over a ranked opponent came at home against No. 16 Moravian back on Jan. 21, 2006, 69-49. The victory over Messiah snaps an 18-game winless streak against ranked opponents for the Blue and Gray.

Elizabethtown will now set its sights on knocking off two-straight ranked opponents when No. 15 Lebanon Valley visits Thompson Gymnasium on Saturday. Game time is set for 2 p.m.