Box Score
GRANTHAM, PA – The Messiah College women’s basketball team defeated Rowan University, 70-47 in the final round of the Hampton Inn Tip-Off Classic on Saturday. The Falcons were the host for the two-day classic.
Prior on Saturday, Lycoming College had a 67-66 victory over Pittsburgh-Greenburg. In the first round on Friday, Messiah won 77-45 over Pittsburgh-Greenburg and Rowan defeated Lycoming, 73-65 in overtime. The Falcons are ranked 16th in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll.
The Falcons (2-1) were led by forward Kira Maier (so. Medford, NJ/Shawnee) with 22 points and six rebounds. Forward Dori Gyori (so. Biatorbagy, Hungary/Mechanicsburg) contributed with 16 points and guard Taylor Miller (fr. Mechanicsburg, PA/Mechanicsburg) followed with 14. Gyori also pulled down eight rebounds. Forward Tremaine Simmons (jr. Freeport, Bahamas/Sunland Baptist Academy) chipped in with seven boards.
For the Profs (1-2), guard Gina Catanzariti (sr. Cinnaminson, NJ/Cinnaminson) scored 12 points. Guard Ashley Russo (so. Lawrence, NJ/Lawrence) totaled 10 points and seven rebounds. Forward Brittany Baum (jr. Egg Harbor Twp., NJ/Egg Harbor Twp.) registered six points and six rebounds.
Messiah started the game with 14 unanswered points in 4:07. Maier led the way with six points, Gyori had five and Miller added three. Catanzariti’s jumper at 13:49 made the score 16-5. The Falcons were ahead 19-5 at 13:36. Rowan pulled within five points (19-14) with a 9-0 run. Catanzariti had two layups (13:22, 9:55) while forward Lauren Gregg (jr. Collingswood, NJ/Collingswood) made a basket (12:28) and a three-pointer (10:40).
With 6:08 remaining, guard Chanelle Banta (jr. Bergenfield, NJ/Bergenfield) cut the deficit to three points (25-22) with two foul shots. Messiah went back up by 11 points (33-22) on Miller’s three at 2:31. Catanzariti hit a jumper with 52 seconds left and the Profs trailed 33-26 at the intermission. She scored 10 points in the first half and Maier also had 10.
In the second period, Russo had two free throws at 14:48 and Messiah was ahead by 10 points (44-34). The Falcons pulled away with 11 unanswered points to lead by 21 (55-34) at 11:33. Maier collected five of the 11 points. Maier’s layup at 6:08 put Messiah up by 27 points (63-36). The Falcons had their biggest lead of 28 points (65-37) at 4:11 with a basket by Maier. She compiled 12 points in the second half.
Next week, Rowan travels to Delaware Valley College on Tuesday, November 23 for a 7 p.m. nonconference game.
