GRANTHAM, Pa. (Jan. 16, 2016) – Messiah used a hot stretch in the second quarter to take a double-digit lead and never looked back en route to recording a 86-63 victory over the Widener University women's basketball team on Saturday afternoon at Brubaker Auditorium.
 
Widener got on the board first when Brianna Wylie (Mount Laurel, N.J.) sank a pair of free throws, but the Falcons responded with eight unanswered and did not trail for the remainder of the contest. The Pride battled back by using the long ball, as sophomore Julia Venturelli (Bridgewater, N.J.) and senior Nikki Sutliff (Sweet Valley, Pa.) each canned shots from long range before Venturelli brought the margin down to one at 16-15 by driving in for a layup. Messiah, however, got a jumper from Alecia Rohrer and a 3-pointer from Dominique Seamon to take a 21-15 advantage through 10 minutes of play.
 
The Pride continued to chip away at the deficit in the second quarter and tied the game at 21-all. Wylie started the frame off strong again and scored four straight and Sutliff added a jumper to create a deadlock. Despite the strong comeback effort, the Pride's shooters went cold and the Falcons netted 19 in a row to take control. Messiah got a charity shot from Seamon in the waning seconds and eventually led 43-26 at the break.
 
Messiah (12-4, MAC Commonwealth 6-1) carried its wave of momentum into the second half and maintained its double-digit advantage for the remainder of the game. The lead grew up to 26 on a pair of Hannah Brown free throws late in the third and then to 29 in the fourth courtesy of a Jen Fairbanks 3-pointer before it was all over.
 
Wylie paced Widener in the losing effort by racking up 19 points and seven rebounds. She also shot 7-of-11 from the floor and 5-of-7 from the line. Sophomore Brianna Cullen (Lansdale, Pa.) netted a career-high 14 points, while Venturelli finished with 10 points and senior Ally Ferrucci (Vineland, N.J.) dished out nine assists.
 
Kaitlyn Hoff registered 16 points and added six helpers to lead the way for Messiah, which won its eighth straight game to remain in a tie for first place in the standings. Gillian Glackin also netted 16 points, while Seamon finished with 15 and made four of her five field goals from downtown.
 
Widener (10-6, MAC Commonwealth 3-4) returns home to face Arcadia on Wednesday, Jan. 20 at 6:00 p.m.