JANUARY 6, 2006
MESSIAH USES LATE RUN TO DOWN SALISBURY, 87-72
WILKES-BARRE -- Messiah College, the 11th ranked
team in Division III, broke open a close game with a late run to post an
87-72 victory over Salisbury University in the opening round of the Lady Monarch Classic Friday at King's
College, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
With the game tied 59-59 with 7:50 left, Messiah would slow extend the
advantage to 66-61 with 5:48 left on a bucket by Eli Cook. After
Salisbury cut the lead to 68-65 on a bucket by Christen barney with 4:31
remaining, Messiah closed out the game with a 19-7 run to put the game
away.
Messiah placed five players in double figures scoring, headed by Cook
with 17 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, and five steals. Sarah
Ringer added 15 points and five assists, while Amy Reed scored 12
points. Gwen Avery netted 11 points with six boards while Lauren Schurr
chipped in with 11 points.
Messiah also enjoyed a huge advantage at the foul line, canning 29-of-34
charity tosses, while Salisbury was 14-of-16 from the foul line.
Salisbury, which played without leading scorer Monica Merkel (22.6 ppg)
who missed the game with an illness, was led by Kat Kordal with 16
points and eight rebounds. Jessica Mills scored all 15 of her points in
the first half while Christen barney added 12 points, all in the second
half, including her 1,000th career point.
Messiah will play for the championship Saturday at 3:00 p.m. against
King's College (6-5), a 70-43 winner over Potsdam in the other first
round game.
Salisbury will meet the Potsdam State in the consolation game Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
King's student radio station WRKC, 88.5 FM plans to web cast
the Messiah vs. lady Monarch title game on Saturday.
The link to the web cast is
http://my.kings.edu/ and click on
"WRKC LIVE".
