(boxscore)
Widener, in arguably its finest outing of the season, put together a great effort on both offense and defense in posting a thrilling 70-68 Commonwealth Conference win over Lebanon Valley at Schwartz Center.
In a contest which no team led by more than four points the last 11 minutes, Widener (16-8, 7-4 CC) notched its fifth victory in six outings and first regular-season sweep of Lebanon Valley (15-8, 8-4) in three years.
Senior Beth Dessart Mager (Newtown Square, PA) hit two free throws with 1:53 left to give the Pride a 69-66 lead. The teams went scoreless in the next 96 seconds, keyed by a block from Widener freshman Casey Pritz (Abington, PA) off a jumper from Megan Bish and a missed 3-pointer from Eryn Schultz that could have tied it.
With 17 seconds left, Bish made the first of two free throws for a 69-67 Widener lead. She missed the second and Suzie Noyes got the offensive rebound, but the Pride could exhale for the moment when Lori Lidlow missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer.
Junior Rayne Reber (Pottstown, PA) got the rebound and hit 1-of-2 from the line with 5.4 seconds left for a 70-67 contest. The Dutchmen brought the ball down and got a break when Pritz fouled Noyes with 0.4 seconds left.
After Noyes missed the first free throw and made the second, Widener inbounded the ball for the final.
Senior Barbara Fleming (Philadelphia, PA) scored 14 of her team-high 16 points in the opening half, when Widener opened a 40-32 lead. Pritz netted 10 of her 12 points in the stanza, helping the Pride shooting 48 percent (15-of-31) from the field.
Dessart Mager was a key in the second half, scoring nine of her 15 points during that span. She played 40 minutes, marking the fourth time in the last six outings she had gone at least 38 minutes.
Reber and junior Danielle Wetling (Upper Darby, PA) scored eight points apiece for Widener, which shot 48 percent (26-of-54) overall.
The 16 victories is the most for Widener since the 2003-04 squad went 18-10 en route to the conference title and second NCAA Tournament bid.
Noyes had 20 points and 15 rebounds with Schultz scoring 15 points for Lebanon Valley, which was held to 37 percent shooting (20-of-54) overall and was only 5-of-20 from beyond the arc. Lidlow, Bish and Andrea Hoover poured in 10 points apiece.
Widener on Saturday can clinch the number two seed in the conference tournament, but it won't come easy as it visits No. 13 Messiah. The 2:00 pm contest precedes the men's 4:00 pm game.
