(boxscore)
Senior Beth Dessart Mager (Newtown Square, PA) hit the go-ahead jumper with 1:20 left as part of her team-high 19 points, lifting Widener to a 60-57 upset of No. 13 Messiah in the Commonwealth Conference semifinals in Grantham, PA.
Fourth-seeded Widener (17-9) is off to the final for the second time in school history and will face No. 2 seed Lebanon Valley in Annville, PA at 2:00 pm. The Pride in 2004 upset then fifth-ranked Messiah in the semifinals and Moravian in the final to win the school's first Commonwealth crown and third conference title.
Freshman Casey Pritz (Abington, PA) made a layup with 2:08 left to give Widener a 56-54 lead, but Julie Henninger buried a jumper with 1:47 to play for a 56-56 contest and the game's 11th tie.
Dessart Mager has been one of the catalysts for four years and tonight proved her mettle, burying a jumper with three seconds left on the shot clock for a 58-56 lead. Silalei Shani made 1-of-2 free throws for Messiah with 1:09 remaining for a 58-57 contest.
Following a series of empty possessions, Shani missed two huge free throws with 13 seconds left and junior Becky Tyler (Wynnewood, PA) grabbed the rebound. She canned 1-of-2 from the stripe with seven seconds left for a 59-57 lead.
Junior Lindsey Isler (New Hope, PA) stole the ball from Katie Kalb and made 1-of-2 from the line with four seconds remaining for a 60-57 game. With Kalb's missed 3-pointer at the buzzer, Widener avenged two regular-season losses to Messiah and snapped a 10-game skid between the teams.
Dessart Mager played all 40 minutes for the third time in the last five outings, sparking her club to shoot 46 percent (13-of-28) from the floor in the second half. Senior Barbara Fleming (Philadelphia, PA) scored 11 points and Pritz hauled in 11 rebounds for the Pride, who closed with a 38-28 edge.
Shani had 24 points and 12 rebounds with Ashley Brooks scoring 11 points for the Falcons (22-4), who shot a paltry 45 percent (13-for-29) from the line and were forced into 17 turnovers.
