GRANTHAM, Pa.– With a chance to make the post-season on the line, Eastern University Women's Basketball stood toe-to-toe with the six-time defending MAC Commonwealth Champion Messiah Falcons for 40 minutes. After leading for the first 18 and a half minutes of the second half, the visiting Eagles fell just short in a 48-43 loss. Taryn Woodson finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds while holding Messiah's leading scorer to just five points and a single field goal.

After starting the season with five losses, it might have unlikely that the Eagles would be playing meaningful basketball on the final day of the season. After the initial adjustment period, the Eastern team saw roles defined and established an identity as a terrific defensive team. Coming into today's contest, the Eagles held opponents to under 34 percent shooting and were near the top 50 in all Division III in shooting percentage defense and three-point shooting percentage defense while allowing 56.2 points per game.

Today, they ran into a a Messiah team that was their match in defensive consistency. The one area where the Eagles could not defend, however, was the foul line. IN the bonus early in the fourth quarter, the Falcons carved out a massive advantage at the foul line. Messiah (21-4, 13-1) made 8-of-10 from the line in the fourth and 17-of-20 in the game.

The Eagles had their chances as well, but a season-long issue again became a problem as they made only 5-of-13 from the line in the final frame.

With the game in Grantham starting an hour after the other three games in the league, the Eagles could have known at half that Widener beat Albright, and that if they could make the 24-22 halftime lead stick that they would have a chance to run it back against the Falcons on Wednesday.

The Eagles played with confidence and stretched their lead to 31-26 in the third quarter. The Falcons did not make a field goal in the first nine minutes of the second half. The Eagles held a 33-29 lead after three quarters.

When the Eagles were called for four fouls in the first two minutes of the fourth, they had to give their hosts a little more space. The Falcon shooters welcomed the extra space. After making only 9-of-39 through the first three quarters, the Falcons hit 5-of-12 from the floor to rally in the fourth.

Even with foul trouble, the Eagles held the lead until Reese Harden made a pair of free throws with 87 seconds left. The Eagles were unable find an answer against the stingy Messiah defense the rest of the way. Harden made 13-of-14 free throws and scored half of Messiah's points. Morgan Adams, who leads the MAC Commonwealth with nearly 20 points per game, scored just five. Adams leads the MAC Commonwealth in shooting percentage, but in the two close wins against Eastern, the 1000-point scorer made only 6-of-27 shots.

Woodson ends the season with 14 double-doubles in 24 games.

Camila Sosa scored 11 points and Miranda Liebtag added nine. The Eagles (10-14, 6-8) end the year tied for fifth in the league. They beat five of the other seven opponents and took Messiah to the wire twice.

The Falcons will host Alvernia in the opening round of the MAC Commonwealth Tournament on Wednesday.