CHESTER, Pa. (Feb. 8, 2017) – The Widener University women's basketball team fell to nationally-ranked Messiah by an 83-50 score on Wednesday evening at the Schwartz Center.
 
The Pride were competitive and remained within striking distance throughout the first half. After surrendering the first seven points, junior captain Nikki Petri (Congers, N.Y.) caught fire by scoring 10 of Widener's opening 12 points by most notably hitting two shots from downtown.
 
Trailing 19-12 through 10 minutes of action, the hosts opened the scoring in the second quarter and pulled within four when freshman Madison Ireland (Garnet Valley, Pa.) found junior Allison Gallagher (Souderton, Pa.) for a trifecta. Messiah, however, countered by embarking on a 12-5 run and went ahead by twin figures when Maci Thornton hit a trey which made it 31-20 at the midway point of the frame. The Falcons led 37-27 at recess and maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
 
Messiah (22-1, MAC Commonwealth 12-1), which is currently ranked 19th in the country by D3hoops.com and 16th by the WBCA, was led by Alicia Rohrer's double-double performance. She scored 16 points to lead four Falcons in twin figures and grabbed 10 rebounds. Kaitlyn Hoff and Thornton contributed 15 points apiece while also finishing with five assists and four steals, respectively.
 
Petri paced Widener by scoring a team-leading 19 points in the setback. Gallagher chipped in 10 points, and Ireland contributed nine points along with four rebounds and three assists.
 
Widener (6-16, MAC Commonwealth 3-10) will next host Hood on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 1 p.m. Senior Aly Furgiuele (Norwalk, Conn.) will be recognized for her contributions to the program prior to the game.