The men's squad will host a sub-regional, facing Virginia Wesleyan on Friday at 8:00 pm after Salem State battles RIT at 6:00 pm. The winners meet at Schwartz Center on Saturday at 7:00 pm.
The women are headed north to play at No. 6 Rochester at 8:00 pm, which follows the first game between Kean and Marymount. The winners advance to the second round Saturday at 7:00 pm.
For the men's games at Schwartz Center, tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for seniors for each day. No complimentary tickets are available and there is no advance sale.
The men (22-5) punched its ticket with Saturday's 69-67 victory over Elizabethtown for its third straight Commonwealth Conference title. Charles Jones (Philadelphia, PA) scored 12 points, fellow senior Matt Sosna (Stratford, NJ) had 11 and 10 rebounds with junior Jamarr Johnson (Pittsgrove, NJ) pouring in 12 points.
It was the Pride's 15th Middle Atlantic/Commonwealth Conference title.
Widener once again gets great scoring production from Jones. He leads the league with 17.2 points per game, is third with 2.11 steals per contest, 10th with a 1.00 assist-to-turnover ratio and 11th with 1.3 three-pointers per game.
Jones was named MVP of the conference tournament after ending with 31 points and eight rebounds over two games.
Sosna has been a force at center, sitting sixth in the league with 14.0 points per game, first with a .608 shooting percentage, fifth with 7.0 rebounds per contest, fifth with a .795 free throw percentage and second with a .456 three-point percentage. Sosna earlier this season was tabbed second team CoSIDA Academic All-America, the 44th honoree in school history, and he sports a 3.938 GPA in Civil Engineering.
Senior guard Nyere Miller (Washington, DC) consistently has been getting the job done with his leadership and determination. Miller leads the league with 3.42 steals per game, is 18th with 9.1 points per contest, ninth with a .383 three-point percentage, sixth with 2.04 three-pointers per game and fourth with 30.50 minutes played per contest.
Johnson has played solidly of late at forward, scoring in double figures five of his last six contests. He is 10th in the league with 5.1 rebounds per game, second with a .581 field goal percentage and fourth with 22 blocks.
Junior guard Bobby Edmunds (Linwood, NJ) is fifth in the league with 3.32 assists per game, ninth with 1.59 steals per contest, fifth with a 1.43 assist-to-turnover ratio and 11th at 28.73 minutes played per game.
Widener is making its fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance for the first time since 1975-78 and 17th overall. It sports an 18-18 record in the tournament, winning games in three straight years for the first time in school history.
The Pride also enter on an eight-game winning streak, tied for the longest under third-year coach Chris Carideo. Named All-America as a player with Widener in 1995, Carideo will coach in his fifth NCAA Tournament after going twice with the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. He is the only Widener coach in any sport to lead a team to NCAA Tournament trips in his first three years.
Widener has notched 14 20-win seasons in its 99-year history.
Virginia Wesleyan (17-12) captured the Old Dominion Athletic Conference as the No. 7 seed, winning four tournament games that included a 66-62 triumph over Washington & Lee in Sunday's final.
The women clinched its spot with Saturday's 75-72 double-overtime win at Lebanon Valley. Beth Dessart Mager (Newtown Square, PA) heroically played all 50 minutes in being named tournament MVP and fellow senior guard Barbara Fleming (Philadelphia, PA) poured in 24 points.
It is the Pride's fourth Middle Atlantic/Commonwealth Conference title and first since 2004. The squad got to the final with last Wednesday's 60-57 upset of No. 13 Messiah.
Dessart Mager, who ended the tournament with 34 points and 15 rebounds,again is a presence on both sides of the ball. She is tied for 15th in the league with 10.4 points per game, 14th with 5.0 rebounds per contest, ninth with 1.33 three-pointers per game and 10th with 31.59 minutes played per contest.
A true stalwart in every sense, Dessart Mager has competed at least 37 minutes 10 times this season, at least 40 minutes four of the last six contests and has scored in double figures six of the last eight games.
Fleminghas been a scoring machine all season with 19 games tallying in double figures. She is sixth in the conference with 13.4 points per contest, seventh with 1.81 steals per game, sixth with 1.78 three-pointers per contest and sixth with 3.15 assists per game.
Freshman center Casey Pritz (Abington, PA) has made a name for herself in the post with nine double-doubles. She is 14th in the league with 11.1 points per game, second with a .544 shooting percentage, third with 8.1 rebounds per contest and second with 47 blocks.
Junior forward Becky Tyler (Wynnewood, PA) is sixth in the league with 6.9 rebounds per game and fourth with 2.78 offensive rebounds per contest.
Junior point guard Lindsey Isler (New Hope, PA), one of three on the team to start at least 26 games, is eighth in the league with 2.70 assists per contest.
Sixth-year coach Alisa DiBonaventura has guided Widener to its two most recent NCAA Tournament appearances and is the second winningest coach in program history (86-73).
Rochester (22-3) was champions of the University Athletic Association, which does not have a conference tournament.
It is the second time in school history both teams won a conference title and are playing in the NCAA Tournament in the same year.
