GRANTHAM, Pa. - An off shooting night and a fast start by Messiah dealt #21 Lebanon Valley its first loss of the season, 78-65, in their Commonwealth Conference opener.

Bridget Rothert scored a game-high 18 points and Lexie Lantz was a spark off the bench with 17 for the Dutchmen (5-1, 0-1 CC), while the Falcons (4-3, 1-0 CC) were paced by Gillian Glackin's 16-point, 15-rebound 

LVC was held to 32.9 percent shooting - including 2-of-22 beyond the arc - while the Falcons built an 11-point halftime lead on 16-of-28 first-half shooting. Messiah went to the line 31 times and made 24; LVC was 15-of-18 at the stripe.

The Dutchmen were handcuffed by early foul trouble, putting Messiah into the bonus less than eight minutes into the game. That helped the Falcons grow their lead to as much as 13 later in the half, keyed by a 6-0 run late in the half that built the lead to double digits for the first time.

Lebanon Valley came firing out of the break, scoring a quick layup by Alyssa Cirucci and a Rothert three-pointer to force Messiah's timeout, but the Falcons immediately re-established their double-digit lead. LVC came as close as two buckets mid-half after a 4-0 spurt, capped by Lauren Derby's mid-range jumper, made it 51-47; Messiah answered with an 8-1 run to lead 59-48 four minutes later, all but finishing things as they made their foul shots down the stretch.

Taylor Umbrell scored eight while Derby had seven points and as many boards. Rothert led the Dutchmen with eight rebounds and five assists. Sienna Wisse and Libby Timmer scored 15 apiece for the Falcons.

LVC returns home Wednesday to host Hood at 6 p.m.