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Seniors Lead Women’s Basketball To 83-48 Victory Over Arcadia In Final Regular Season Game

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Widener celebrated its four seniors today on the last day of the regular season with an 83-48 Commonwealth Conference victory over Arcadia, which lifted the team to a nine-game winning streak for its longest since the 2010-11 campaign.
 
The first point of the game went to Arcadia after it won the tip and Samantha Caligiuri got fouled on a drive attempt, making one shot. Lil Carney (Narberth, PA) attempted to drive through the middle for a layup on Widener's first possession, but it hit off the rim; fellow senior Vanessa Hejnas (Delran, NJ) fought for the rebound and got the ball back to Carney for two under the net. Widener held onto the lead for the remainder of the first half.
 
Two back-to-back blocks from Hejnas and sophomore guard Ally Ferrucci (Vineland, NJ) allowed Widener to keep possession, which eventually resulted in a 3-pointer from senior Kate Dellinger (Wrightsville, PA) with 17 minutes remaining in the first. Within a one minute timeframe Hejnas strung together five points by sinking 3-of-3 awarded free throws and one shot underneath the net. About two minutes later, Dellinger put up four points of her own with the help of Hejnas stealing the ball to keep possession.
 
With 6:30 remaining in the half, Carney received an inbound pass and drove down the court straight to the net for a quick two points and was fouled on the shot, making it a three-point play and giving the Pride a 20-point lead. About one minute later, she drove the middle again, but did a spin move to successfully fake out the defense for two in the paint. Caitlin Horan (Morristown, NJ) was put into the game and picked up a few key rebounds to allow Widener (21-4, 16-2 CC) to keep possession multiple times, which eventually turned into Dellinger hitting a 3-pointer. The game broke for halftime with a score of 46-23 after Carney sank a layup with 1:30 to play.
 
Arcadia (10-15, 3-15) came into the second half first to score, again, with freshman Morgan Wensley making two in the paint and sinking one free throw before the first minute had expired. Ferrucci fed the ball to senior Francesca Lee (Hainesport, NJ) in the paint for Widener's first bucket of the second half. With the clock reading 18:20, Dellinger sent a bounce pass to Hejnas who then did a quick move around her defender for two in the paint. About 20 seconds later, in an almost identical play, Hejnas was fouled and made both free throws to lift the Pride to a 52-26 lead.
 
Over the next four minutes, each team scored nine points. Junior Jennifer Egee (Ridley Park, PA) scored six of the nine for Widener, making two layups and two free throws, with Carney hitting a 3-pointer with 14 minutes remaining in regulation.
 
To give Widener a 30-point lead with just under four minutes remaining, Ferrucci saw junior Joanna Persiano (Absecon, NJ) at the top of the court and fed her the ball to sink a 3-pointer. In the next play, freshman Sarah Engman (Bryn Mawr, PA) knocked the ball away from Arcadia's Victoria Mazzeo to regain Widener possession and allow Ferrucci to drive down the court for a layup. Ferrucci completed her three-point play by sinking the free throw awarded to her after getting fouled on the shot. With one minute remaining, Engman sank a shot to give the Pride a margin of 38 points, the largest of the game. With 16 seconds left, Dominique Hassinger made a 3-pointer for the Knights to make the final score 83-48.
 
As a result, Widener finished its regular season undefeated at home, 11-0, and it marks the first time the team finished at the top of a division since 1983 when it won the Middle Atlantic Conference Southern Division.
 
Lee totaled six points and five rebounds and finished the game with a .500 shooting percentage. Hejnas totaled 14 points--eight of which were from free throws--to go with nine rebounds, three steals and two of each assists and blocked shots. Carney amassed 17 points after shooting 7-for-12 in field goal attempts, sinking both attempted 3-pointers, and making 1-of-2 free throws. She also had five rebounds, three steals and served up two assists.

Dellinger led the Pride with 19 points and 10 rebounds, securing her 10th double-double of the season, and also had four assists. Courtney Colella (Cinnaminson, NJ) blocked three shots while Ferrucci totaled four assists. Egee was 4-for-4 from the line and gathered six rebounds.
 
Widener clinches the number two seed in the conference tournament and will host third-seeded Lebanon Valley on Wednesday at 6:00 pm.  It will mark the first time the squad has hosted a conference tournament game since 1983.
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