Reading, Pa. (Feb. 12, 2022) - Alvernia University (10-12, 3-10) nearly completed an upset of #13 Messiah University (19-2, 12-1), but the Falcons edged Alvernia with a 60-58 win on Saturday afternoon at Alvernia's Jack McCloskey Court in MAC Commonwealth women's basketball action. 

After Messiah led Alvernia 19-9 after the first quarter, the Falcons trailed by as much as seven, 54-47, in the final minutes of action. But, Messiah closed out the game on a 13-4 over the final 4:10 to sneak away with the 60-58 win. Alvernia nearly tied it on a buzzer-beater, but the attempt went just left of the rim.

Messiah started out fast, jumping out to an early 8-0 lead over Alvernia after about four minutes of action in the first quarter. Alvernia's first points of the game came at the 5:31 mark off the hands of Jordan Karmonick from beyond the arc to cut Messiah's lead to five, 8-3.

After a trading of layups, Messiah led 10-5 with 5:01 on the first quarter clock. The Falcons then surged ahead on a 9-2 run over the next four minutes to extend its lead to 12, 19-7, with just over a minute remaining in the first. Alvernia scored the final points of the first quarter on two made free throws by Tyra Robinson to make it a ten point game, 19-9, going into the second quarter.

Messiah extended its lead to 12, 21-9, with a jumper to open the second quarter, but a 3-pointer from Tamia Wessels on Alvernia's first possession of the quarter cut Messiah's lead back into single digits, 21-12.

The single digit deficit was brief for Alvernia, as Messiah extended its lead back up to 13 with a Megan Zimmerman layup at the 8:00 minute mark.

A steal by Wessels that led to a fastbreak layup ignited Alvernia's offense. The Wessels layup sparked a quick 8-0 burst that also included back-to-back 3-pointers by Kayla Williams to bring Alvernia within five, 26-21, with 6:02 to play in the half.

After Messiah ended the run with two made free throws, Alvernia converted five of its own to bring the game within two, 28-26.

The free throw spree continued with Messiah converting three to go back up by five, 31-26, with 2:41 to play in the half. 

A 3-pointer by Tyra Robinson with 1:24 on the clock marked the final points of the half and brought Alvernia back within two, 31-29, going into the break.

Alvernia outscored the Falcons 20-12 in the second quarter.

The Golden Wolves opened the second half with a game-tying layup from Taliyah Malone on its opening possession. Alvernia then took the lead, 34-31, on a Karmonick three after two minutes of third quarter play.

Alvernia then sent Messiah back to the line six times over the next two and half minutes, and the Falcons converted five of their six opportunities to retake the lead, 36-34, with 5:47 left in the third.

A Tyra Robinson three put Alvernia back in front, 37-36, with 3:55 on the clock.

After Messiah retook the lead and went up by two, 40-37, with 2:37 left to play in the third, a free throw from Tyra Robinson and a Wessels layup locked the game up at 40-40 with 1:15 left in the third. 

Alvernia scored the final four points of the quarter off of layups from Tyra Robinson and Williams to take a 44-42 lead into the final frame.

Messiah opened the four quarter with a game-tying jumper from Reese Harden, but Alvernia retook the lead on a Malone three to go up 47-44. 

A layup from Messiah's Leah Springer at the 8:38 mark brought the Falcons within one, 47-46, but then both teams went scoreless for the next nearly three minutes.

Alvernia broke the scoreless drought with a layup from Williams to extend its lead to three, 49-46, with 5:54 to play. 

Following a Springer free throw, Malone knocked down a three to extend Alvernia's lead to five, 52-47, with 5:03 to play. 

A fastbreak layup from Williams off a steal gave Alvernia its largest lead of the game, 54-47, with 4:42 to play.

Messiah battled back, and a layup from Springer with 4:10 on the clock brought the Falcons with five, 54-49.

After 90 seconds of scoreless play, Messiah's Harden knocked down a three to make it a two point game, 54-52. 

Alvernia responded with Karmonick's third three of the day to make it a two possession game in favor of Alvernia, 57-52, with 2:08 to play.

Another Springer layup brought Messiah back within three, 57-54, and a jumper from Harden with 1:13 to play brought Messiah within one, 57-56. 

Messiah then took the lead, 59-57, off a Harden three with 24 seconds to play.

Alvernia took the inbounds and ran the clock down to about six seconds and called a timeout.

The Golden Wolves set up an inbounds play that was looking for Jannelle Robinson on the baseline, but the Falcons fouled Robinson and sent her to the line for her first attempts of the game. 

After missing her first attempt, Robinson made her second to make it a one point game, 59-58. 

Following a Messiah inbounds, Alvernia fouled the Falcons and sent them to the line. Madison Eich made one of two to make it a 60-58 game with just under two seconds remaining.

Alvernia called a timeout and advanced the ball to in front of its bench. Malone attempted to inbounds it to Williams, but the ball was tipped by Messiah's Morgan Adams. Malone quickly grabbed the ball and fired off a shot under pressure from beyond the arc. The shot had the distance, but was just off target as Messiah held on for the 60-58 win. 

Both Tyra Robinson and Williams finished with 14 points for Alvernia. Robinson finished with a team-high eight boards, and Williams added five. 

Alvernia returns to action on Tuesday at Widener. Widener defeated Alvernia by nine, 82-73, in the first matchup of the season.