(box score)
Kate Dellinger (Wrightsville, PA) stole the show with a career-high 30 points, but fellow sophomore Vanessa Hejnas (Delran, NJ) decided the outcome as her go-ahead jumper with 2.6 seconds left helped Widener to a 69-68 victory at Alvernia in Reading, PA.
Dellinger canned a clutch 3-pointer with three minutes left to give Widener a 65-62 lead. Both teams stepped up on defense for the next minute before Angela Altemose hit a layup for the Crusaders with 1:49 remaining for a one-point game.
Widener got the ball back up 65-64 with under a minute left, but Lil Snyder intercepted a pass from Dellinger. Altemose capitalized on it by a making layup with 27 seconds remaining for a 66-65 Alvernia lead, the home team's first in five minutes.
The Pride came through again down the stretch, getting a driving layup from Dellinger with 13 seconds to go for a 67-66 lead. The Crusaders answered on the other end with 11 seconds left as Snyder hit twice from the line after she was fouled in the post.
Widener had one last chance. With Dellinger blanketed for a majority of the second half, the Pride had to look for another option. That turned out to Hejnas, who drilled a 10-foot shot in the lane for the final.
Alvernia had one last chance, but Widener's defense was too much and it never got off a shot.
Dellinger, who bested her 27 points from December 28 at Wesley, simply was too much by shooting 12-of-23 from the floor with nine rebounds and three 3-pointers over 40 minutes. It was her fifth game this season scoring at least 20 points.
Hejnas closed with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, Mary Lorenz (Mays Landing, NJ) grabbed seven rebounds and fellow sophomore Lil Carney (Narberth, PA) dished six assists.
Altemose had 20 points and 12 rebounds, Julie Hahn scored 15 points, Shanaye Glenn netted 10 and Allie Toczylowski hauled in 14 rebounds for the Crusaders.
The win was a vital one for Widener (13-4, 4-2 CC), which moves into a second-place tie with Messiah in the conference and is one game ahead of Alvernia (9-7, 3-3) for fourth.
Dellinger personally made up for her team's lackluster start, scoring 10 points during a half-ending 16-2 run over 4 1/2 minutes that brought Widener from a 35-16 deficit with 4:51 left to a 37-32 contest at halftime. She ended the half with a bang, taking a pass from senior Jesica Abraguin (Lancaster, CA) following a steal from Lorenz and canning a 3-pointer from the left wing at the buzzer.
Dellinger poured in 19 points in the half on 8-of-12 shooting for the Pride, who shot 5-for-8 from the floor during the closing run of the first half and 40 percent (12-of-30) in the first 20 minutes.
Widener on Saturday hosts Elizabethtown at 1:00 pm.
