GRANTHAM, Pa.– Eastern Unviersity Women's Baasketball was unable to sustain a strong start and fell at No. 11 Messiah after being outscored by 21 points in the third quarter. Viki Kneis led the Eagles with 11 points and eight rebounds.

Eastern trailed early before putting a 15-to-2 run on the No. 13 Falcons to go up 18-13 with less than two minutes to play in the first period. Da'Naziah Borwn had a pair of 3-pointers int he run and Regie Robinson completed a three-point play after Naomi Harris sparked the run with a couple driving baskets. Eastern led 18-17 at the end of the first quarter.

The Eagles stood toe-to-toe with the Falcons through the second quarter as well.. wtih Kneis and Brianna Young-Harris scoring inside, the Eagles led 30-28 with less than two minutes left in the first half. Messiah closed out the half on a 9-to-3 run, but the game was still well within reach at 37-33.

A 15-2 run to start the second half changed the tone of the game completely. The Eagles were unable to score against Messiah's settled defense and were also not able to generate turnovers for transition chances. The 27-6 third quarter efecitvely sealed the win for the Falcons (5-1). The Eagles scored ten points in the fourth, but they shot only 7-of-24 in the disappointing second half. Messiah was 17-of-33 after the break. 

Young-Harris and Naomi Harris each had 10 points in the game.

Coach Houston says:

"We can't play two quarters of hard basketball and come out flat against in the third. We showed we could compete in the first half. We had a game plan, and we executed it for the first half."

"Messiah is a good team, and part of our issue was that they did a great job in the half-court defense. We needed to execute at our best to score, and we did not do that in the second half. It was not our night. This was a good test for our young team."

Up Next:
Eastern will be at home against Penn State Harrisburg on Tuesday. Regie Robinson has 997 career points after today.