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Thomas More Crashes Glass, Messiah Dreams In 57-50 NCAA Result
As has become the program staple, a jam-packed crowd urged Messiah on Saturday night in the NCAA Tournament.

Grantham, PA — The 2008-2009 Messiah women’s basketball season came to an emotional conclusion Saturday night, as Thomas More College handed the Falcons a 57-50 defeat in NCAA Tournament Second Round action at Brubaker Auditorium.

The Saints — ranked sixth in the latest USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll and seventh in the D3hoops.com Top 25 rating — utilized a dominant rebounding game and an evening-altering, 16-2 run in the first half, grabbing their first lead midway through the initial period and never surrendering it.

With the win, Thomas More (28-2) advances to face Hope College in the NCAA Sectional next weekend, at a site yet to be determined.

Messiah’s season concludes in the loss.

“We’re in the age of soundbites and quick highlights,” Messiah head coach Mike Miller said in Saturday’s post-game press conference. “I don’t think I have enough time in this conference to try and describe what this group has meant. It’s an absolutely incredible group of young ladies. It hurts to see it end.”

Messiah (23-5) found the offense harder to come by against Thomas More, as Saturday’s knock-down, drag-out affair was the antithesis to the Falcons’ 81-46 drubbing of Eastern Connecticut State in Friday’s First Round contest. An early 7-3 lead over the Saints was only partially muted when senior Christa Wenrich went down after banging knees with a Thomas More guard, and Messiah still led by a 10-8 score with 12:54 to play in the half.

That’s when Thomas More effectively changed the game for good.

A layup from the Saints’ Aleesha Faehr began a 16-2 run that chewed up seven minutes worth of game clock, as a jumper from Thomas More’s Kristen Humphrey gave the visitors a 24-12 lead with 5:05 to go before halftime.

Messiah would pull within an 18-26 deficit at the break, but the tone had been set: Thomas More limited the Falcons to just a six of 20 shooting clip (30 percent) in the half while grabbing 23 boards to Messiah’s six — numbers that would expand by the end of things. The Saints concluded the contest with a 40-18 advantage in total rebounds, while holding Messiah to just a 17 of 51 shooting clip from the floor (33.3 percent).

It was Messiah’s largest rebounding deficit and fewest amount of made field goals in a single game all season.

“When you get to NCAAs, you play bigger, stronger people,” said Sal Shani, Messiah senior forward. “That really was it. They were strong on the boards and played really hard.”

Despite those ruinous numbers, Messiah — ranked 18th and 15th in the aforementioned national polls — somehow willed itself to stay close throughout. A relentless, pressuring defense would force Thomas More into 26 turnovers on the night, giving the Falcons a glimmer of hope all the way until the final ticks of the clock.

A three pointer from senior Katie Kalb cut the Saints’ lead to seven points (35-28) just four minutes into the second half, while another trey from Kalb made it a 37-31 difference two and a half minutes later.

Rapchinski followed with back-to-back threes over the span of two minutes, cutting the Thomas More lead to 39-34 and then 41-37.

Her third long ball of the night would be the biggest.

After the Saints’ Humphrey converted one of two charity tosses, Rapchinski buried a triple from the top of the key with 7:27 to play, trimming the deficit to 42-40 and nearly causing the 1,129 Brubaker Auditorium spectators to come unglued.

Messiah had gone on a 15-7 run, coming on five connections from downtown.

With its season on the brink, Thomas More needed an answer.

It got a big one from the smallest player on the floor.

Saints’ senior guard Gabby Johnson buried a 30-foot silencer from well beyond the top of the arc on the visitors’ next offensive trip, just beating the shot clock and quieting an erupting crowd with 6:20 remaining.

It would be the first of a series of clutch baskets from the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Champions, each coming at necessary moments to ensure Messiah would not capture a lead.

There was a driving layup from the Saints’ Jayme Thiem at the 5:22 mark, reclaiming a 48-42 lead after Shani hit a tough pull-up jumper on the Falcons’ previous possession.

A layup from sophomore Michele Schleich was answered by two free throws from TMC’s Nicole Dickman with just under three minutes to play, while Johnson banked in a runner at the 1:54 mark — reclaiming a 54-48 lead after a Kalb layup had cut it to a 52-48 ballgame.

Two free throws from Kalb again made it a four-point spread with 42 seconds on the clock, but Johnson was again clutch on the Saints’ ensuing trip, making a pair of free throws after Messiah fouled to stop the clock.

The Falcons would miss their final four shots from the floor, unable to get any closer as time expired.

“Obviously, they hammered us on the boards,” Miller said. “But if you look at the turnovers, we forced them into 26, which is 26 possessions where we didn’t get the opportunity to rebound a miss. When you consider we only had 14 turnovers, that’s 12 more possessions right there for us. The bottom line was they made some big shots when we forced them to.”

Thomas More connected on 17 of 36 total field goal attempts (47.2 percent), but knocked in eight of 14 in the second half (57.1 percent), a stat that helped offset a six of 12 second-half effort from deep for Messiah.

“We were well aware of Messiah’s tradition, and we knew this would be a very, very tough game for us,” said Brian Neal, Thomas More head coach. “They’ve been in big games before. They know how to win these games. For us, this is a victory that’s been about two or three years in the making. After we lost last year (in the NCAA Second Round), there was a local newspaper that ran the headline ‘Not Quite Enough.’ We had that framed and put in our locker room for this year, and tonight during timeouts, we kept saying that we had enough. I hope that this win, against a program as good as Messiah is, will help us do some things we’ve never done before.”

The Saints’ Thiem led all scorers with 18 points, Thomas More’s only double-digit performer. Rapchinski and senior Ashley Brooks paced Messiah with 11 points apiece, while Kalb tallied 10. Shani scored eight points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

For Brooks, Kalb, Shani, Wenrich and classmate Kristen Groff, the defeat was especially emotional, as the Falcons’ five seniors had played their final collegiate contest.

In the post-game press conference, those emotions were palpable.

“This has just been an amazing experience,” Brooks said. “It’s so much more than basketball. To be able to use a sport to worship God is just … amazing. These girls are like my sisters. It’s been an honor to play at this level of competition. You don’t just walk into a program and get a target on your back. So many people have made this a place where you’re everyone’s biggest game. The coaches here have done a great job building a program that goes far beyond what we do on the court.”

Shani agreed.

“What shows it’s more than basketball is what Coach (Miller) kept saying to us in practice,” she said. “He’d keep saying, ‘I just want one more week with you guys,’ or ‘I just want two more weeks with you guys.’ For me personally, that was my motivation. I just wanted to keep playing basketball with these people.”

As Messiah’s five seniors walked off to a standing ovation for the final time in uniform, even Neal was moved by the team’s post-game prayer invitation for his club. The Saints joined Messiah at center court, holding hands while standing in a circle.

“The prayer that (Ashley Brooks) gave was very moving,” Neal said. “It was powerful, powerful stuff.”

Groff concluded a tearful press conference by thanking Miller and her teammates, who addressed the media with game uniforms still on. Miller then responded in kind, fighting back emotion of his own.

“I can’t say enough about how these five ladies have approached each day,” he said. “How they’ve handled the good stuff, the bad stuff, the tough coaching decisions we’ve had to make at times … it didn’t matter. It was all about playing for the glory of God.”