Mechanicsburg, Pa. (Feb. 25, 2021) - Alvernia University (0-1, 0-1) opened up its shortened 2021 campaign on Thursday night, falling to Messiah University (5-0, 5-0) 78-52 in MAC Commonwealth women's basketball action at Messiah.

Messiah opened the game scoring the first six points before Alvernia's Tamia Wessels knocked down a three off of a Julia Ewen steal. Alvernia then closed the early gap to 6-5 on its next possession after Madison Miskar sunk a jumper.

Both teams struggled with turnovers in the first quarter, but Messiah came out with the 17-10 lead going into the second quarter. 

Messiah opened the second quarter scoring nine straight to extend its lead to 26-10. The Falcons would go on to lead by 17, 33-16, with 6:39 left in the half before Alvernia started to gain some ground. Alvernia would cut Messiah's lead down to 11 twice in the second quarter. Dee McCormick hit down a three to make it 40-29 with 2:14 left in the half. Messiah would hold Alvernia scoreless the rest of the half, but only scored a foul shot of its own to go into the half with a 41-29 lead. 

Alvernia took advantage of a slow start out of the half by Messiah to trim the lead down to nine on two occasions. Kramer converted a layup with 7:10 left in the third to make it 42-33, and after the teams traded threes, Alvernia trailed by nine again with 3:21 left in the third quarter.

Alvernia wouldn't get any closer the rest of the way. On the following possession, Messiah's Leah Springer made a layup to spark a 12-0 run by the Falcons over the next two minutes. McCormick knocked down a three with 38 seconds left in the third to stop the bleed and make it 57-39 going into the fourth.

Messiah continued its surge in the fourth quarter, scoring the first nine points of the quarter. The Falcons lead would peak at 34, 76-42, with 3:20 left in the game. Alvernia scored six of the final eight points of the game, but fell to the Falcons 78-52.

Kramer led Alvernia with a 10 point, 11 rebound double-double and also added two blocks. McCormick finished with eight points and Kayla Williams also added eight. Messiah was led by Jayneisha Davis with 25 points. Springer finished the night with 12 points and 12 rebounds. 

Both teams will face each other again tomorrow night as Alvernia hosts the second game of the home-and-home series. Tip-off is slated for 8:00 PM at Jack McCloskey Court.