CHESTER, Pa. (Feb. 13, 2016) – The Widener University women's basketball team dropped its annual Play 4Kay game to Messiah by a 73-66 score on Saturday afternoon at the Schwartz Center.
 
Widener got off to a quick start by scoring 10 of the game's opening 12 points over the first five minutes. Sophomore Allison Gallagher (Souderton, Pa.) registered a 3-point play before classmate Brianna Cullen (Lansdale, Pa.) capped the stretch with a layup at the 5:01 mark. The Pride never trailed in the opening quarter and got a trey from senior Ally Ferrucci (Vineland, N.J.) in the closing seconds to take an 18-11 lead into the first break.
 
In the second quarter, Messiah (16-7, MAC Commonwealth 9-5) chipped away at the deficit and went ahead for the first time when Hannah Brown finished a pass from Kaitlyn Hoff to make it 20-19 with 8:14 left. A seesaw battle ensued, as the teams played through five ties and three lead changes in the frame and eventually headed to the locker rooms deadlocked at 31-all.
 
The Falcons, however, came out strong in the third quarter and got a 3-pointer from Dominique Seamon to set the tone the rest of the way. Despite being challenged by the hosts, Messiah never surrendered the lead and boosted the margin to twin figures at 50-40 when Seamon drove in for a layup that prompted a Widener timeout.
 
Trailing 52-44 through three quarters, the Pride struggled to find the basket and were held without a field goal until Ferrucci found Gallagher for a trifecta to create a 64-50 score at the 4:09 mark. Widener came no closer than seven the rest of the way and eventually settled for the loss.
 
Ferruci fell just shy of a triple-double by finishing with 19 points to go along with eight rebounds and seven assists to lead the way for Widener, which recognized the senior point guard's aunt as a breast cancer survivor during the pregame ceremonies. Gallagher contributed 14 points, while senior Nikki Sutliff (Sweet Valley, Pa.) was solid off the bench with six points and seven boards.
 
Messiah was paced by Seamon, who netted 19 points in just 26 minutes of action until becoming one of five players between the two squads to foul out of the game. Hoff had 15 points and six assists, and Jen Fairbanks scored in twin figures by netting 11 points.
 
Widener (12-11, MAC Commonwealth 5-9) continues league play when it visits Arcadia on Tuesday, Feb. 16 at 6:00 p.m.