Grantham, Pa. (Jan. 15, 2025) - Messiah University (12-2, 3-0) jumped out to a 16-3 lead and never looked back as the Falcons defeated Alvernia University (8-6, 2-1) 71-24 on Wednesday night in MAC Commonwealth Women's Basketball action at Messiah. 

The Falcons, who are receiving votes in national rankings, held Alvernia to under ten points in each of the four quarters.

The Falcons led 12-0 through the first seven minutes of action, keeping Alvernia off the board. The Golden Wolves got their first point of the game on a made free throw by Jordyn Ingelido with 2:20 to play in the first. Ingelido then made Alvernia's first and only jumper of the first quarter with 49 seconds to play. The Golden Wolves trailed Messiah 16-3 going into the second.

Messiah kept it rolling and outscored Alvernia 16-8 in the second quarter to take a 32-11 lead into the break. Alvernia improved its shooting percentage in the second quarter to 25%. The Golden Wolves matched their 25% shooting in the third quarter, but Messiah outscored the Golden Wolves 20-7 in the third to take a 52-18 lead into the final ten minutes. Alvernia closed out the game with a six point fourth quarter for the 71-24 final.

Kyla Reed came off the bench and led Alvernia with seven points. 

The Golden Wolves finished shooting 18.5% (10-for-54) to Messiah's 44.6% (29-for-65). Alvernia finished with 21 turnovers, and Messiah scored 21 points off of those turnovers. 

Alvernia went 0-for-13 from three point range, marking the end of a 130 game streak where the Golden Wolves have recorded at least one made 3-point shot. 

Alvernia will look to get back on track on Saturday at Widener. The Pride, who are the defending MAC Commonwealth Champions, enter Saturday with a 10-4 record overall and a 3-0 record in MAC Commonwealth play.