Women's Basketball Handed Crushing 56-49 Loss to Messiah

(box score)

Widener played solidly in the opening half to build an 11-point lead before Messiah came out strong in the second half to hand the home team a 56-49 Commonwealth Conference loss at Schwartz Center.

The Pride began to separate themselves late in the first half with an 8-0 run to close the period for a 28-17 lead. Sophomore Jennifer Egee (Ridley Park, PA) scored four points in that burst and senior Lindsay Pepino (Oceanside, NY) capped it on a layup with 65 seconds left.

Lil Carney (Narberth, PA) scored nine points in the half and fellow junior Kate Dellinger (Wrightsville, PA) grabbed seven rebounds.

Messiah, ranked fifth in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic regional rankings, was limited to just 23 percent shooting (6-of-26) in the opening half that included going only 5-of-22 from two-point range.

The Falcons in the second half netted 10 consecutive points and held the Pride without a point for over six minutes, grabbing a 40-38 lead with 7:02 remaining. Nicky Hess scored four points in the run and Dori Gyori ended it on two free throws.

Widener junior Vanessa Hejnas (Delran, NJ) made a layup with 6:50 to go for a 40-40 tie before Messiah took the lead for good in crazy fashion. Jordan Seiz held the ball on the left wing, double-teamed with the shot clock running down. Just before the clock expired, she ignored the great defense by flinging a shot that crashed off the backboard and in for a 42-40 cushion with 6:17 to play.

That possession began a 9-0 spurt to give Messiah a 49-40 margin with 4:25 left. Hess led the way with the next five points in the burst after Seiz' shot.

Gyori closed with 20 points and 11 rebounds, including 12 and six after intermission, and Hess scored 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Messiah shot 58 percent (14-of-24) from the floor in the second half that included 12-of-20 from two-point range.

Carney scored 14 points with Dellinger adding 11 and 12 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season and Hejnas grabbed nine rebounds. Widener held a 39-33 rebounding edge that seemed much greater than that, but shot only 31 percent (18-of-59) from the floor.

Widener (16-8, 9-4 CC) moves into a third-place tie with Elizabethtown and can clinch the number three seed for the conference tournament with a victory Saturday at Albright. Game time is at 2:00 pm.

Messiah (20-4, 11-2) secured the number two seed and will host a conference tournament semifinal next Wednesday against either Widener or Elizabethtown.

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