GRANTHAM, Pa.– Eastern University Women's Basketball came into today's game at Messiah on the heels of a couple good performances in the league. In their close loss at Alvernia, the Eagles made a season-high 14 3-pointers. The league-leading Falcons (15-2, 6-0) had only allowed eight 3-pointers to league opponents and led the nation in 3-point field goal percentage against. The Eagles made five 3-pointers in the game, but the host Falcons continued their double-digit domination in the league with a 71-40 win. Jeriyah Johnson led the Eagles with 13 points and Trinity Upton added 10.

Johnson scored four of the first six points of the game as the Eagles led 4-2 after three minutes. After the Falcons ran off eight points, Johnson answered with a four-point play and a made 3-pointer for an 11-10 lead. The Falcons closed out the quarter on a 10-to-0 run.

After Messiah opened the second quarter with a basket to go up 11, Trinity Upton cut the lead to eight with the team's fourth 3-pointer of the game. Unfortunately for the Eagles, the stingy Messiah defense kicked in and they were able to convert just one more field goal, a Dominique Geiger lay-up with 2:15 to play,  in the first half. Messiah took a 36-16 lead to intermission.

The Falcon lead stretched to 40-16 before a 9-to-2 Eastern run closed the gap. In the middle of that run, Upton hit the team's fifth 3-pointer of the day. Coming into today, only Gettysburg had made more than four against the Falcons. After the two teams traded three-point plays, Messiah finished the third quarter with five points in the final 46 seconds.

Though the Eagles had a 45-39 edge on the glass and were the first opposing team to shoot over 40 percent from behind the arc all year, The Falcons had a 30-16 edge on points in the paint and scored 24 points off Eastern turnovers. The Eagles made 5-of-12 (41.7 percent) from behind the arc, but they had considerably less success closer to the basket. They were only 9-of-52 (17.3 percent) inside the arc.

On Wednesday, Eagles (2-15, 1-5)  will close out the first pass through he MAC Commonwealth when they host an unpredictable Albright (9-7, 3-3) team that has lost to Hood and beaten Widener and York.