CHESTER, Pa. – Erin Phelan scored eight of her team-high 15 points in the final five minutes as the Widener University women's basketball team claimed a 63-57 win against Salisbury in its home opener on Thursday night.
 
Both teams displayed some excellent shotmaking in the final quarter, in which neither team held more than a six-point lead. Salisbury pulled on top 50-49 on a free throw midway through the frame. The Pride then summoned an 11-4 run to go up 60-54 with just less than two minutes remaining.
 
Both teams started the game off slowly as the score stood just 3-2 in favor of the Sea Gulls with less than three minutes to play in the opening quarter before a Salisbury run extended the lead to 8-3. The Blue and Gold responded, netting the final two buckets of the first quarter and carried the momentum into the second, outscoring SU 15-11 in the frame, taking a 22-19 into halftime.
 
Widener opened the third period strong, scoring the first six points of the quarter and 13 of the initial 17 points of the frame, six of them coming from Nicole Barnes, building a 35-23 advantage. The Sea Gulls crowed back, going on a 13-0 run to take a 36-35 lead with just more than a minute to go. WU responded, as a basket from Jasmine Franklin and a free throw from Devan Rimmer gave the Pride a slight 38-36 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• To go along with her point total, Phelan also grabbed seven rebounds.
• Rimmer posted 14 points in the game.
• Kyra Schenk had scored nine and had nine boards.
• Nicole Barnes filled the stat sheet with six points, six rebounds, and four assists.
• As a team, Widener shot 58.3 percent (14-for-24) in the second half.

 
UP NEXT
The Pride is back in action on Wednesday, November 20 when it makes the short trip along Route 320 to face off against Swarthmore. Tipoff from Tarble Pavilion is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.