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Freshman Casey Pritz (Abington, PA) scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as Widener outlasted Rutgers-Camden, 67-48, at Schwartz Center for its fifth straight win.
Widener (6-3) won despite shooting just over 30 percent for the game from the field, but forced 33 Scarlet Raptor turnovers and converted them into 26 points.
With the score tied 5-5, the Pride went on a 13-0 run over 4:31 to take an 18-5 lead with 11:45 left on a layup by sophomore Kylie Walton (Columbus, NJ). From that point, Rutgers-Camden could only get to within eight at 20-12 with 9:28 left on a layup by Shamira McNair.
Widener pushed the lead to as high as 17 four times, the last instance coming with 67 seconds left on a jumper by senior Barbara Fleming (Philadelphia, PA).
Pritz finished the first half with 13 points with Fleming added ten. Widener held a 36-23 halftime lead, despite only shooting 31 percent (12-for-39) from the field. The Pride held a 26-17 lead on the boards in the period with Pritz grabbing six.
Karima Blackwell had seven points at the half for the Scarlet Raptors (0-8), with Stephanie Deisley adding six.
Widener forced 19 turnovers in the first half alone, accounting for 13 points.
The Scarlet Raptors in the second half fought back with an 11-2 run, cutting the deficit to 36-31. Deisley's three-point play at 16:52 and a 3-pointer from Blackwell at 15:16 cut it to four.
The Pride limited the visitors to just 14 more points the rest of the way, securing their largest lead with the final tally. A 54-36 advantage in the rebound category allowed Widener to offset 24 turnovers.
Pritz hit 8-of-17 from the floor and 6-of-9 at the charity stripe for her third double-double of the season to go with three blocks. Fleming was the only other Pride player to reach double figures, dropping 13 points to go with a game-high five steals.
Blackwell posted a double-double of her own with a team-high 14 points along with 10 rebounds and four steals.
Widener is in the midst of a six-game home stand and will take on Rowan on Friday at 4:00 pm.
