ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - Eastern University Women's Basketball cruised to a 72-56 victory over visiting Messiah College. Emily Lavin recorded an impressive triple-double, the first of her career, to lead the way. The junior center scored 26 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and swatted away a program-record 11 blocks to help the Eagles claim their fourth win of the year.

"She just wanted it more," stated Head Coach Eric Houston. "She wants to impact this team in a positive way. She is starting to come into her own." With the graduation of last year's impressive senior class, Lavin and sophomore guard Taylor Price have taken on leadership roles at the offensive end of the floor. Lavin took just over ten shots per game in her sophomore campaign. She is right at 15 shots a game this year. She is shooting 62 percent on those attempts. Tonight, she made 11-of-17 shots from the floor.

Eastern (4-1) dominated the game in the paint. The Eagles scored 52 of their 76 points in the paint while Messiah (3-2) only managed 22 points. Lavin, Price, and first-year wing Reggie Robinson converted at will from close range. Lavin blocked two shots in the first minute of the game. From that point forward, the Falcon post players struggled to find shots inside and seemed to be looking around for Lavin when they did get an inside opportunity.  Eastern finished with a 46-35 edge on the glass.

Coming into tonight's game, both Gillian Glackin and Alecia Rohrer were averaging 14.8 points per game for the Falcons 42. Against the interior presence of Lavin and Robinson, the pair combined for only 19 points.

"Messiah as a great program with talented players. We went out there and played very hard and challenged them," stated Houston. "We did a great job on them tonight." Houston was especially pleased with the defensive effort of his whole team after what he felt was a sub-par effort on the defensive end in the final game at Kean this past weekend.

The Eagles built a 22-point lead with four minutes to play in the second period. The Falcons closed out the half on an 8-1 run to pull within 15 at 37-22. Lavin led all scorers with 13 at the half. Price and Robinson each had 12. Glackin had six points to lead the Falcons.

The Falcons came out of halftime looking to ride the momentum of that run. Lavin stopped that notion immediately with two blocks in the first minute of the half. She altered a third shot. After her second block, Lavin won the race up the floor and finished a lay-up for a 39-22 lead. The lead stayed between 23 and 13 points for the rest of the second half. Taylor Azer and Amanda Riiff each scored five second-half points and connected on big 3-pointers to stretch the floor.

Robinson earned her second consecutive double-double with 16 points and ten rebounds. While Price finished with 18 points and nine rebounds.

Glackin led Messiah with 11 points and 13 rebounds while teammate Maci Thorton scored ten points and went 2-of-4 from behind the 3-point arc.

"I want them to enjoy the time with their family," Houston concluded. "But when we return on Sunday. It's all business from here on out. [For our] first conference game against Wilkes we need to be focused and ready. We will continue to work and get better."

Eastern travels to Wilkes on Dec. 2 for a 6 pm tip-off.