Women’s Basketball Loses To Swarthmore In Season Opener

(boxscore)

Widener got off to a quick start, but could not hold on for a victory as the game turned around in the final seconds, resulting in a 66-64 loss to Swarthmore in a game that goes towards the annual “320 Challenge” between the two schools.

Sophomore Jennifer Egee (Ridley Park, PA), quickly followed up by Joanna Persiano (Absecon, NJ), started off the scoring for the Pride's 2011-12 season with two back-to-back field goals. Egee scored nine points for the Pride and came up with a total of seven rebounds. Persiano ended with 20 points of her own, four turnovers and two steals. Vanessa Hejnas (Delran, NJ) was solid on both sides of the ball, making nine of 11 shots, scoring 21 points and causing five turnovers. At the end of the first half which ended with a buzzer beater by Swarthmore's Kayla Moritzky, Widener (0-1) held the lead 35-28.

The Garnet (1-0) began to play catch up in the second half of the game, making the margin smaller as the clock ticked down. With just 50 seconds to go, Swarthmore's Katie Lytle made one free throw to tie the game 62-62, which was followed by Nicole Rizzo sinking two free throws with just 23 seconds left to make the game 64-62 in favor of the Garnet, which was their first lead. Another set of free throws for Swarthmore dropped the Pride to four points behind, until Hejnas brought the game two points closer with a layup in the paint, resulting in the final score of 66-64.

Francesca Lee (Hainesport, NJ) totaled three steals and six rebounds for the Pride. As a team, Widener was 12-for-15 in free throw attempts.

The Pride travel to Center Valley, PA for the Starter's Pub Tip-Off Tournament, with their first game being played at 8:00 pm on Friday against Juniata.

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