Feb 26, 2014
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ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — It was the second season in a row that the Elizabethtown College women's basketball team faced off against Messiah with a spot in the Commonwealth Conference Championship game on the line. Only this season, it was the Jays that had the home court advantage, but it did not phase the Falcons as they controlled most of the CC Semifinal game and jettisoned E-town from the conference playoffs with a 64-51 victory.
Messiah (19-7), the No. 3 seed, made a concerted effort to utilize Glackin's height on the inside from the get-go. In the first three and a half minutes, the freshman six-footer had a block, two boards (both offensive), and a layup as the Falcons were out in front 7-3 with 16:27 left in the first half.
Taylor Miller drained a trey to extend Messiah's lead to six, but on the next Elizabethtown (20-5) possession, Taylor Kreider spotted a cutting Kendra Beittel and the senior tandem hooked up for an easy lay-in to make it 12-8.
The Jays stuck around, not allowing the Falcons to extend the lead to anymore than six points. While both teams struggled to shoot from the field, the difference became the points off turnovers. Ten E-town turnovers were converted into 11 points for Messiah, whereas the Blue Jays could only get four points off seven Messiah turnovers in the first half.
Miller sank another jumper to push the lead back to six at 26-20 with 2:05 remaining in the opening half, but both squads combined to finish 0-for-5 and failed to score the remainder of the half.
Messiah's defense really stifled the Blue Jays, as E-town only had 14 second-half points through the first 13 minutes of play. By that point, the Falcons had extended the advantage to 19, 53-34.
Kreider did her best to rally her troops, scoring 11 of her game-high 22 points in the last six minutes of the game. She began a 7-0 run after Sienne Wisse's three-pointer to breathe some life into Elizabethtown. After Nikki Thompson came up with a steal, Kreider's and-one brought the deficit down to 12 (53-41), the closest EC had been since the 14:00 minute mark.
As time began to tick down, the fouls began to pile up. Messiah hit 13 of its 19 free throws in the second half to keep the lead in double figures.
Kreider had Elizabethtown within nine, 58-49, with exactly two minutes showing, but the Falcons' foul shooting pushed it back to to 11, and then 13.
Another big factor in the game was the inability to make outside shots for E-town. They finished 0-for-11 from downtown, while Messiah hit five of its 11 attempts. The Jays shot 32.8% in the game to the Falcons' 40.8%.
Kreider, fittingly so, finished the game with another double-double, recording 22 points and 11 rebounds. Krissy Pennell played a season-high 29 minutes and responded with a season-high of ten points, the only other E-town player in double figures. She added five boards and four steals.
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — It was the second season in a row that the Elizabethtown College women's basketball team faced off against Messiah with a spot in the Commonwealth Conference Championship game on the line. Only this season, it was the Jays that had the home court advantage, but it did not phase the Falcons as they controlled most of the CC Semifinal game and jettisoned E-town from the conference playoffs with a 64-51 victory.
Messiah (19-7), the No. 3 seed, made a concerted effort to utilize Glackin's height on the inside from the get-go. In the first three and a half minutes, the freshman six-footer had a block, two boards (both offensive), and a layup as the Falcons were out in front 7-3 with 16:27 left in the first half.
Taylor Miller drained a trey to extend Messiah's lead to six, but on the next Elizabethtown (20-5) possession, Taylor Kreider spotted a cutting Kendra Beittel and the senior tandem hooked up for an easy lay-in to make it 12-8.
The Jays stuck around, not allowing the Falcons to extend the lead to anymore than six points. While both teams struggled to shoot from the field, the difference became the points off turnovers. Ten E-town turnovers were converted into 11 points for Messiah, whereas the Blue Jays could only get four points off seven Messiah turnovers in the first half.
Miller sank another jumper to push the lead back to six at 26-20 with 2:05 remaining in the opening half, but both squads combined to finish 0-for-5 and failed to score the remainder of the half.
Messiah's defense really stifled the Blue Jays, as E-town only had 14 second-half points through the first 13 minutes of play. By that point, the Falcons had extended the advantage to 19, 53-34.
Kreider did her best to rally her troops, scoring 11 of her game-high 22 points in the last six minutes of the game. She began a 7-0 run after Sienne Wisse's three-pointer to breathe some life into Elizabethtown. After Nikki Thompson came up with a steal, Kreider's and-one brought the deficit down to 12 (53-41), the closest EC had been since the 14:00 minute mark.
As time began to tick down, the fouls began to pile up. Messiah hit 13 of its 19 free throws in the second half to keep the lead in double figures.
Kreider had Elizabethtown within nine, 58-49, with exactly two minutes showing, but the Falcons' foul shooting pushed it back to to 11, and then 13.
Another big factor in the game was the inability to make outside shots for E-town. They finished 0-for-11 from downtown, while Messiah hit five of its 11 attempts. The Jays shot 32.8% in the game to the Falcons' 40.8%.
Kreider, fittingly so, finished the game with another double-double, recording 22 points and 11 rebounds. Krissy Pennell played a season-high 29 minutes and responded with a season-high of ten points, the only other E-town player in double figures. She added five boards and four steals.
