HILBERT DROPS FIRST ROUND DEFEAT TO NO. 6 MESSIAH IN NCAA TOURNAMENT

The Hilbert College women's basketball team ran out of gas early in the third quarter and suffered a 71-60 defeat to Messiah College (27-1) in the First Round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The Hawks (22-6) battled to a 34-31 half time lead over the No. 6 ranked team by doing everything right. 

They were ready to play and put up one heck of a fight, but the hosts took the floor after the break and showed why they are a nationally ranked team, having won their 26th straight game this season.

Ashley Repine led all scorers with 17 points, Emily Gawlak tossed in 16 and Taylor Corts added 12 points as all three juniors will return for their final season next year.

Katelyn Proy closed her Hilbert career with 11 rebounds and nine points.

Repine collected another double double by leading her team with 12 boards, four on the offensive end.  She added three blocked shots and four assists, both team-highs.

Hilbert opened the game with aggressive defense and held the Falcons to just 13 points by the quarter break.   Messiah spent a good amount of time at the foul line through the first 10 minutes of play, drawing five fouls in that period. 

Corts drilled a long ball just before the shot clock expired to knot the game 8-8 midway through the quarter and then Hilbert jumped ahead, 15-13, off another Corts' jumper with 1:30 on the game clock.

Gawlak made a short jumper outside the paint to extend Hilbert's hold 17-13.  And another Proy defensive rebound led to Gawlak's transition score which lifted the Royal and White to a 19-13 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

Corts took charge for the Hawks hitting back-to-back buckets in the second session which were followed by a Repine jumper.  

Hilbert continued to push, Gawlak converted a long ball right off an inbounds pass at the 5-minute mark setting a 28-22 margin and multiple offensive rebounds kept the ball in the Hawks' hands, which led to Repine muscling her way to 30-22 score.

Hilbert controlled the glass, limited Messiah's offense possessions and attacked the rim at the other end of the floor.

Their hard work after 20-minutes paid off; the Hawks took a 34-31 lead to the locker room. 

Hilbert shot 50 percent from the floor and held the Falcons to 37.5 percent while building a 20-15 edge on the glass.  Hilbert's downfall were eight turnovers which Messiah converted into 11 points.

Messiah elevated their pace after intermission and came out of the locker room running.

Both teams traded buckets prior to the Falcons draining consecutive shots beyond the arc, which gave them their first lead in the second half, 39-36. 

Gawlak took it upon herself to keep Hilbert in the game.  She blew by her defender and scored in the paint only to witness Messiah hit their third 3-pointer in their next trip down the floor. 

Gawlak gave it right back to the hosts and hit from behind the line closing the score to 42-41 but after that, Hilbert's offense slowed to a crawl just as the hosts were getting warmed up.

Messiah out worked Hilbert on the glass and that extra effort show on the score board. The Falcons outscored the Hawks in the session (23-11) and took a 54-45 lead into the final quarter. 

Messiah and Hilbert traded hoops at the start of the fourth quarter but after Messiah banked in another shot from downtown, creating a double figure lead (59-47), Hilbert called a timeout.   

Demi Battin hit a short jumper cutting it back to ten but Hilbert's interior defense gave up another easy bucket in the paint and deflated their comeback chances. 

Back-to-back defensive stops by the Falcons made it a 14-point game (65-51) before both teams understood what the final outcome would be with less than four minutes left on the clock. 

Proy (4), Natassia West (2) and Corts (3) cut the spread back to 11 points by the final horn.

Hilbert finished the game hitting 41.7 percent from the floor, went 4-14 from beyond the arc and hit 6-of-10 from the charity stripe.  Messiah closed with a 40.0 percent effort, but sank 6-of-13 from downtown and made 9-of-14 from the foul line. 

It was a close game on the glass (41-40, Messiah), but the Falcons cleared 15 offensive rebounds to Hilbert's 11.