Skip To Main Content

Widener University Athletics

Scoreboard

Official Website of

Widener University Logo

Women's Basketball

Women’s Basketball Breaks School Record For Most Victories In 75-69 Win Over No. 10 Messiah

(boxscore)
Lil Carney (Narberth, PA) tied her career high with 26 points for the third time in her career and made a clutch basket with 4.2 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime that allowed Widener to defeat No. 10 Messiah 75-69 in tonight's Commonwealth Conference game at Schwartz Center.
 
Messiah won the tip-off, but immediate pressure from the Widener defense resulted in a jump ball and Pride possession. After another possession change, the Falcons were first on the scoreboard after Taylor Miller hit a 3-pointer. Francesca Lee (Hainesport, NJ) put the Pride on the board with two in the paint, but Messiah scored the next eight points before Widener called a time out with just above 17 minutes left in the first half.
 
Fresh out of a time out, Jennifer Egee (Ridley Park, PA) made three from downtown, hitting nothing but net, and Vanessa Hejnas (Delran, NJ) made one from the line after being fouled underneath the basket. Searching for Widener's first lead of the game, Carney drove the baseline for two points and, after Widener regained possession, Egee cut past the Messiah defense for two to put the Pride one point away from evening the score. The first tie of the game occurred after Carney made two in the paint and one free throw after being fouled on the shot to make the score 15-15 with just above 14 minutes remaining.
 
Courtney Colella (Cinnaminson, NJ) fed the ball to Kate Dellinger (Wrightsville, PA), who then hit a nothing-but-net 3-pointer to give Widener its first lead of the game. Over the next four minutes the score changed leads twice and was tied twice. Messiah made the next few shots and held the lead for the next eight minutes, but Widener started working its way back with the help of two buckets in the paint from Dellinger. Carney, looking for an open teammate, saw Egee across the court and made the long pass over everybody's head for Egee to sink a 3-pointer. A free throw made by Hejnas right after tied the score at 33 points apiece, and with two minutes left, Dellinger stole the ball and got it to Lee for the last basket of the half to send the game into the break with Widener in the lead 35-33.
 
Coming back from the break, Carney fed the ball to Lee to get the scoring sparked again. Widener was able to hang onto its lead for the first 14 minutes of the second half. Holding a five point lead, Joanna Persiano (Absecon, NJ) met Brianna Wylie (Mount Laurel, NJ) -- who was speeding through the middle -- with a quick pass for two points. With 11:40 remaining in regulation, Messiah tried to inbound the ball with a loop pass, but Dellinger picked it off for a fast break and a layup made easy. Falcon Nicky Hess sank a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to bring the score within one. Junior Taylor Miller took advantage of the baseline and drove for two points to tie the game 55-55 and, after being fouled on the shot, made one free throw to give Messiah its first lead of the second half with just above six minutes remaining.
 
Messiah held that lead nearly until the end when Carney made a clutch shot under the net to send the game into overtime, tied at 62.
 
After Widener knocked the ball out of bounds on the tip-off Messiah held possession, but Widener was the first to score in overtime after Lee was given the ball by Dellinger after one minute had expired from the clock. Dori Gyori posed a threat to Widener in overtime, making five of Messiah's seven points. With 3:45 remaining, Hejnas caused a jump ball for Widener possession and turned it into two points underneath the net. The last three minutes of overtime held 12 free throw attempts between the two teams, with Carney sinking four for Widener and Gyori making three for Messiah. Nicky Hess made the last two points of the game on two free throws but it was not enough to catch the Pride (20-4, 15-2 CC), who ultimately won after seven lead changes and seven ties to break the school record for most victories in a season.
 
Widener previously had won 19 contests during the 1981-82 and 2010-11 seasons.

The victory clinches no worse than a number two seed and a home game in next Wednesday's conference semifinals.  It will be Widener's first home conference tournament game since 1983.

Carney shot 8-of-17 from the floor and 9-for-11 from the line to match her individual high, set the last time in 2010 against Neumann. She also had five of each rebounds, assists and steals. Dellinger had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds to go with three steals and two assists.
 
For Messiah (21-3, 15-2), Gyori totaled 21 points to go with three assists, three blocked shots and two steals. Chelsea Danel served up eight assists and added 15 points to her team's score.
 
Widener will celebrate its four seniors on Saturday in its final game of the regular season as it takes on Arcadia at 1:00 pm at Schwartz Center, with the men's team playing afterwards at approximately 3:00 pm.
Print Friendly Version