ASTON, Pa. (Dec. 30, 2016) – Freshman Devan Rimmer (Perkasie, Pa.) continued her torrid start as a collegian by scoring a career-high 24 points, but it wasn't enough, as Neumann rallied in the final quarter to edge the Widener University women's basketball team by an 85-83 score on Friday afternoon at the Mirenda Center.
 
Trailing by just one point with 20 seconds remaining, Widener had the ball with an opportunity to go for the last shot and the win. A turnover, however, nearly dashed away hopes of a victory for the Pride in a close game of runs. The visitors had one last opportunity in the waning seconds after Nafisa Saunders made one of two free throws, but freshman Madison Ireland's (Garnet Valley, Pa.) attempt to tie the game and force overtime was blocked by Mariah Maciejewski.
 
The tightly-contested first quarter featured four ties and four lead changes. Widener rattled off eight unanswered to take a 13-8 lead, which was capped by a 3-pointer coming off the hands of junior Allison Gallagher (Souderton, Pa.), but Neumann responded by scoring 10 of the next 12 to pull ahead by an 18-15 score on an AAliya Hayes layup at the 2:40 mark. The Pride, however, recovered and ended the opening frame on a high note when Ireland found classmate Anjelica Borja (Somerville, N.J.) for a trifecta as time expired to give the visitors a 23-19 edge through 10 minutes of play.
 
Widener was able to maintain its advantage for most of the second quarter, but a feisty Neumann squad battled back and regained the lead when Maciejewski converted a layup and then set up Lauren Legler to make it 37-36 with 1:42 on the clock. But despite falling behind, Widener got a layup from Ireland in the final minute to create a 38-38 deadlock heading into the recess.
 
The Pride started the second half strong, as Gallagher and Ireland each drove in for layups to prompt a Neumann timeout just 41 seconds into the frame. Rimmer then extended the Pride's lead to seven by finishing a 3-point play the old-fashioned way, and junior Nikki Petri (Congers, N.Y.) provided a spark off the bench by most notably canning a trey before time expired to give the visitors a more comfortable 70-62 advantage at the end of the third.
 
Junior Julia Venturelli (Bridgewater, N.J.) opened the scoring in the fourth quarter to give the Pride their first double-digit lead by finishing a pass from Borja, but the Knights stormed back and went ahead by an 83-81 score when Hayes converted a layup with just 1:26 remaining in regulation. Neumann, which outrebounded the Pride by a commanding 41-27 margin in the contest, then got a key offensive board from Maciejewski which put her on the line. The sophomore came through to break an 83-83 tie, and the hosts survived to record the two-point win.
 
Hayes led Neumann (4-5) by finishing with a game-high 30 points, which included 12 during the fourth-quarter rally, to go along with 13 rebounds. Saunders added 21 points as well as three steals and two blocks off the bench, while Maciejewski fell just shy of a double-double by notching nine points and 10 boards.
 
Rimmer paced Widener by leading the team in four major statistical categories. She contributed 24 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Ireland and Gallagher finished with 19 and 12 points, respectively, while also providing two steals apiece.
 
Widener (4-8) next visits Penn State Brandywine for its final non-conference game of the season on Wednesday, Jan. 4 at 7 p.m.