GRANTHAM Pa. – Women's Basketball comeback attempt comes up just short in the MAC Commonwealth Championship game against the Mesiah Falcons.

The Pride finish the season with a 21-6 overall record.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Lindsay Kutz led the Pride with 20 points, going 9-16 from the field while also grabbing nine rebounds.

 

• Avalynn Baer put together another stellar performance, scoring 18 points on 7-16 shooting and grabbed six rebounds.

 

• Riley Stackhouse put up a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds and also tallying three steals.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Lindsay Kutz opened up the MAC Championship with a tough layup to get the Pride offense started. Messiah and Widener would continue to trade blows throughout the first quarter with Stackhouse and Baer helping the Pride match the Messiah offense. The first quarter came to an end with the Falcons holding a slim 17-14 lead.

 

• Widener would briefly tie the game at 19 in the second quarter after a Kutz three and a Giada Palmieri layup. But the Messiah offense got hot, going on an 11-0 run midway through the quarter and taking a 32-19 lead. The Pride answered back, going on a 12-5 run to close out the quarter, with five points from Kutz and Baer. Messiah held a 37-31 lead going into halftime.

 

• After the break, the Pride brought the game within one after Casiello connected on a three and Kutz hit a pull up jumper from mid-range. Messiah would once again get their offense going at just the right time, going on an 11-6 run. Kutz would finish the quarter with six while Baer would have five. The Pride headed into the final frame down 59-47.

 

• Avalynn Baer and Jayla Daniels kept the Pride within reach to start the fourth quarter with four points from Baer and three from Daniels. Messiah would build a ten-point lead with under four minutes to play, but the Pride weren't ready to call it quits. A jumper from Stackhouse from Stackhouse followed by a layup from Kutz brought the Pride within six. A clutch Stackhouse three brough the score to 71-67 with 35 seconds to play. The Falcon answered back, going up by seven with 23 seconds left but Widener would not go away. Liliana Metrick connected on three followed by a Stackhouse layup to bring the Pride within two. Unfortunately, the Pride were unable to get that final bucket to give them the lead and lost by a final score of 76-72.