Arlington, VA (1/05/07) – Senior forward FERIN CATLETT (Lawnside, NJ/Haddon Heights) scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds, however 10th-ranked Messiah College used a key second-half run to pull away from Montclair State ina 70-53 win in the Holiday Classic at Marymount University on Friday afternoon.

MSU, which fell to 5-7 on the season with its second straight loss, will face Hood College in the Consolation Game on Saturday (January 6) at 12:00 pm. The Falcons (10-1) will meet host Marymount in the championship game at 5:00 pm.

Catlett and JESSICA HORAN (West Havestraw, NY/North Rockland) each scored seven points in the first half as Montclair State forged a 31-31 tie at intermission. MSU shot 52 percent (14-of-27) from the field in the first 20 minutes in the game.

But Messiah would open up the second half with a 13-0 run keyed by Sarah Ringer and Nikki Lobach, who scored five and four points respectively as the Falcons took a 44-31 lead with 14:55 to play.

Montclair State would counter with a 13-1 run of its own. JESSICA GARRABRANT (Denville, NJ/Morris Knolls) began the spurt with a layup and would add another as MSU crept within 44-38. After a Messiah foul shots, Catlett had a bucket and Horan a jumper before AMY BONK (Edison, NJ/JP Stevens) cut the lead to 45-44 with 10:50 left.

MSU would remain within a point at 47-46 with 9:36 to go before Messiah pulled away with a 18-2 run over the next five-plus minutes.

Garrabrant and Horan each finished with nine points with Garrabrant pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds. . Bonk had seven points while freshman JACKIE BERRY (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional) dished out five assists.

Lobach finished with 18 points while Ringer added 10 and six rebounds. Amy Reed had 17 points and five assists for the Falcons, who held a decided advantage at the free-throw line. The Falcons were 19-of-26 at the charity stripe compare to just 5-of-9 by Montclair State.