ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- The Elizabethtown College women's basketball team lost its home opener Wednesday night in Thompson Gymnasium to Messiah, 66-57.
Cadence Anderson had a team-high 19 points for the Blue Jays.
Messiah went ahead on the first possession of the game, but two straight baskets by the Jays put them into the lead as
Molly Kimmel and Anderson hit on back-to-back attempts. Kimmel's layup came on a pass from
Ashley Adamson and then after a Falcons' turnover, Anderson converted on a layup at the other end. Elizabethtown finished the game with 21 points off turnovers and 14 fastbreak points.
Graduate student Liv Monturo was a handful for the Jays' defense as she went off for 30 points in the game. Monturo was 12-for-18 from the floor and hit all six free throw attempts.
Anderson hit her only three-point attempt of the game with two and a half left in the first quarter to get Etown within a point. Messiah ended the quarter with two consecutive buckets by EmmyFaith Wood and led 17-12 after one.
The Falcons shot 10-for-16 in the second quarter and outscored Elizabethtown 24-16 to grow their lead to double digits by halftime. The Blue Jays were held to 33 percent shooting in the second quarter as Messiah pulled away.
Olive Brandt, Anderson,
Ava Chapman, and Kimmel helped keep the Jays around. Chapman's three-point play with four minutes left in the third made it an eight-point game after the junior knocked down the foul shot. Brandt and Anderson hit shots to bring the deficit back into single digits earlier in the third quarter. The Falcons would extend it back to 14 before the end of the period.
Messiah's lead never grew to more than 14 as Elizabethtown hung around, capitalizing on some mistakes and turning them into points. Kimmel recorded another four steals in the game while Anderson and Brandt each had two.
Kiley Wilhelm knocked down a three with 4:48 remaining in the game that began a 10-0 spurt for the Blue Jays. They held Messiah scoreless for three minutes of game action while they crept back within four with 2:37 to go after Brandt's three-point from the wing. Anderson and Kimmel added transition baskets in between of their own steals.
A jumper by Monturo ended the run as the hill was a bit too steep to climb in the end for Etown. Needing to foul to try and extend the game, the Falcons hit a number of free throws to get their lead back up to nine by game's end.
Anderson added seven rebounds to her 19 points. Brandt added 13 with three treys and Kimmel netted 11 points.
Elizabethtown hosts Washington (Md.) on Saturday, November 14, at 5 p.m.
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