Let's do it one more time! Messiah to the title game!

The Lady Falcon seniors have spent a lot of time this postseason talking about wanting to keep playing together as long as possible. Well, they've extended their season as long as they possibly can, and tomorrow they'll play their last game together, win or lose. Messiah held on to their halftime lead and defeated Oglethorpe by a score of 80-60 to advance to tomorrow's national title game, the 2nd title game appearance in program history.

Unlike Messiah's last trip to the title game in 2001, which came pretty much out of nowhere in what was only Messiah's 3rd ever appearance in the NCAAs, and which came after they had been absolutely torched in their conference title game against E-Town, Messiah opened the season as one of the favorites in D-III, and have been in the Top 10 in the rankings all season, spending a lot of time in the top 5. Also, unlike the 2001 trip, when Messiah ran into a dominant Washington University team that had won the last 3 championships, this time, Messiah boasts Mike Miller as the only coach with previous Final Four experience. I'll probably take a peak at the 2nd semi-final between undefeated Howard Payne and UW-Whitewater to get an idea about what the Falcons are up against, but I have very little doubt that the Falcons will have a much better look at the title this year.

As for the game itself, the second half was rather uneventful, with the Falcons content to slow the game down and maintain their lead. Oglethorpe was able to hold their own much better in the paint and on the boards in the second half, and was able to whittle down the Falcons lead to 14 at one point, but it didn't get any closer than that. Oglethorpe probably could have made a game out of it as the Falcons offense stalled, but they failed to capitalize on a number of very good opportunities.

I don't have precise stats, but what impressed me the most was the total team effort from the Falcons. All-American Nikki Lobach was a factor, but not the biggest factor, with only 11 points. Messiah had at least 2 (Schurr and Shani) and possibly 1 or 2 others (Kalb and Reed) in double figures. The performance clearly gave their potential opponents a lot to think about as they scouted the game.

So, Messiah will tip it off at 6:05 tomorrow evening for the championship. There's no online video feed, so if you don't have CSTV, you're out of luck as far as watching the game tomorrow. Messiah will have the radio feed available. As a reminder, I will not be able to watch the game live, so if you can follow it live, please refrain from calls or blog comments that would give away the result! I will post here when I'm done.

Bring it home, ladies!