| Messiah athletics photo |
Messiah defeated Albright 59-56 on Wednesday night and, in the process, Falcons women’s basketball coach Mike Miller earned his 800th career win. All of his wins have come at Messiah, his alma mater, where he has been head coach since the 1986-87 season.
Miller is in his 40th season as the head coach, and 23 of the previous 39 have seen the Falcons record 20 wins. (In 2020-21, the COVID season, Messiah played just 11 games, but won them all.) He has led the Falcons to the national title game twice, in 2001 and 2008.
The Falcons opened the game with a 15-7 lead after the first quarter to take an early lead. The Falcons kept control of the game in the second, outscoring the Lions by seven to take a 31-16 lead at the break. Both teams scored 18 in the third to put the Falcons up by 15 headed into the fourth. The Lions came back to take a 56-55 lead headed into the final minute of the fourth. Liv Monturo and Brooke Fenchel each hit a pair of clutch late free throws to give the Falcons the 59-56 win. Liv Monturo led the Falcons with 18 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Charlotte Milanesi totaled 13 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Hope Cook and EmmyFaith Wood each added nine points.
Among active coaches, only Andy Yosinoff at Emmanuel has more, with 943. Miller stands just 15 wins behind Scranton coach Mike Strong for the second-most in Division III history.