Game Details: Thursday, February 21 | 7:00 p.m.
Location: Lamade Gymnasium | Williamsport, Pa.
Game Links: Watch Live | Live Stats
Twitter: @WidenerSports | @WUWBB |   |  Lycoming Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Stats | Game Preview

Opening Tip
The Widener University women's basketball opens its first postseason run in six years as it travels to No. 2 seed Lycoming for a MAC Commonwealth Championship Semifinal on Thursday, February 21. Tipoff from Lamade Gym in Williamsport, Pa. is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Last Time Out - Barnes Defensive Effort Secures First Round Bye for @WUWBB
Nicole Barnes came up with a steal and two clutch free throws with 11 seconds remaining to seal a 68-67 win against the Lycoming Warriors, securing the No. 3 seed in the upcoming MAC Commonwealth Championship on Saturday afternoon.
 
"It was a great defensive play by Nicole and two huge free throws that allowed us to pull out a close victory," said head coach Alisa Kintner. "Heading back to Lycoming on Thursday with this win allows us to go in with some confidence."
 
     BY THE NUMBERS

• Devan Rimmer led Widener in scoring with 23, her 12th game this season with 20 or more, giving her 500 points for the season. She ends the regular season leading the MAC Commonwealth in scoring at 20.0 points per game.
• Erin Phelan tallied 13 for the Pride, nine of them coming in a four minute stretch in the final period.
• Kyra Schenk filled the state sheet with 12 points, four rebounds, and four assists.
• Phelan and Barnes led the way with six boards each. Barnes matched her career-best with four steals.
• Madison Ireland dished eight assists.

 
A seemingly comfortable 56-45 lead for the Blue and Gold entering the fourth quarter was erased in short order as a pair of missed layups and two turnovers, combined with 4-for-5 shooting from the Warriors cut Widener's lead to a single point in just more than two minutes. From there, Phelan put WU on her back, scoring nine straight points in the next four minutes, pushing the edge back to 65-55 with 4:06 to go.

Lycoming went back on the attack, chipping into the lead and eventually chopping the score back to 65-64 on a three-pointer with 13 seconds left. After an LC foul, Rimmer made one-of-two at the line, pushing the edge to 66-64. The Warriors looked primed for a repeat of the game in Chester on December 15, but Barnes stripped Becca Painter of the ball coming out of a timeout and sank her free throws to allow the Pride to escape with the win.

Widener got out to a strong start, holding a 23-13 at the end of the first quarter. Hot shooting keyed the attack as the Pride connected on nearly 53 percent of its shots and held a 13-8 edge on the glass. Rimmer led the way with eight points while Schenk had six. The pace slowed in the second period as neither team shot particularly well. Widener was able to force five Warriors turnovers in the frame, leading to an extra bucket and a 36-23 lead at the half. A highly offensively played third quarter left the Pride leading by 11 heading into the final 10 minutes

Scouting Report
Lycoming enters play 17-8 and finished second in the MAC Commonwealth, allowing the Warriors to host their first postseason game since 1997. Since dropping back-to-back games against Arcadia and Lebanon Valley towards the end of January, the Warriors had won four of five with the only loss coming to Messiah prior to Saturday. 

A very balanced attack leads Lycoming as three players score in double figures with one more close behind. Topping the list is Kayla Kline at 14.8 a contest followed by Erica Lutz and Akilah McFadden who net 13.2 and 12.4 respectively. Becca Painter also contributes, tossing in 8.6 points a game and netted a team-high 22 against Widener on Saturday. Lutz and Kline provide a formidable tandem on the glass, averaging 9.2 and 9.0 rebounds per game respectively with both sitting in the top-five in the league on the boards. McFadden leads the group with 3.0 assists a night. 

Two things the Warriors do well as a team that contribute to their success are value the ball and protect the rim. Lycoming is second in the conference in turnovers, committing just 14.9 per game and are one of just three teams in the league with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio. The Warriors rank third in the MAC Commonwealth with 4.3 blocks an outing. Individually, Lutz is third in the MACC with 53 rejections and McFadden is ninth with 25. 

Christen Ditzler is in her 26th season as the head coach of the Warriors with an overall record of 323-321. The 17 wins she has guided Lycoming to this season match the most in a single year during her tenure. 

Didn't We Just Do This?
Wednesday's semifinal is a rematch of the final regular season game as Widener just made the trip to Lycoming on Saturday. It is the third time since 2009 that the Pride plays the same team in the postseason that it played within a week of the end of the regular season. In 2012, the Blue and Gold faced Messiah on February 16 before squaring off against them in the semifinals on February 22. In 2009, it was a double-dip as Widener closed the season with Lebanon Valley and Messiah before reversing the order to play both squads in the MAC Commonwealth Championship. 

And Maybe That's Not A Bad Thing
While playing the same team twice in such a short span may seem daunting, Widener is 3-0 in the aforementioned games in the playoffs. It beat Messiah 60-58 in the 2012 postseason matchup. 2009 saw a similar story as the Pride beat the Falcons 60-57 in the semifinals before claiming a 75-72 double overtime thriller against Lebanon Valley to claim its second ever conference title. 

It's Been A While, How Does This Work?
The MAC Commonwealth Championship began on Monday with a First Round game between No. 4 Arcadia and No. 5 Lebanon Valley, won 67-61 by the Dutchmen. That winner takes on No. 1 Messiah in one semifinal while No.2 Lycoming and No. 3 Widener square off in the other. The two winners play for the championship on Saturday, February 23. It's a longshot, but WU can still host the title tilt with a win and a victory by Lebanon Valley at Messiah. 

As Close As It Gets
Widener and Lycoming meet for the third time in 2018-19, splitting the regular season series with each squad winning by one on the other's home floor. The Warriors claimed a buzzer-beating 66-65 win in Chester on December 15 before the Pride took a 68-67 victory at Lamade Gym on February 16. A closer look at the numbers reveals just how even the two teams were in their matchups this season. Both scored 133 points and pulled in 74 rebounds in the two games. Lycoming made two more field goals in three more attempts, but also committed one more turnover. The only areas of note where there was much of a separation are in free throw shooting and blocks. Widener went 22-for-34 at the line (64.7 percent) compared to 15-for-30 (50.0 percent) by Lycoming. The Warriors came away with 10 blocks in the two games with the Pride rejecting just one shot. 

Closing The Season Strong
Devan Rimmer was named the MAC Commonwealth Player of the Week for the week ending February 17, 2019. It is the fourth time this season she has earned the award and second in a row. Rimmer averaged 21.5 points per game to lead the Pride to a 1-1 week. She scored 20 points with four rebounds, two steals and two assists against Arcadia on Tuesday. The junior followed that with 23 points with two rebounds, a steal and an assist in a 68-67 win over Lycoming.

Endurance Test
With her appearance in Saturday's game at Lycoming, Emily Hardy stepped on the floor for the 100th time in her career. In doing so, she became just the 14th player in program history reach triple figures for games played. She can become the first student-athlete since Kate Dellinger 2013 and move into 13th place on her own to appear in more than 100 games by taking the court on Wednsday. 

The Power Of One (Part I)
Each of the last two wins for the Pride have come by one point. The Blue and Gold downed Stevenson 70-69 on February 9 before Saturday's 68-67 win at Lycoming. 

The Power Of One (Part II)
Widener has followed each of its six losses with a victory. 

500 Club
With 23 points on Saturday, Devan Rimmer hit the 500 mark for the season. That total gives her an average of 20.0 points per game this year, making her the first player since Jen Egee with 21.4 in 2013-14 to average 20 points or more a contest. If she can maintain the pace, she would be just the fourth player in the NCAA era (since 1981-82) for Widener to post 20+ for a season. In addition to Egee, Chelsea Luhta scored 21.4 per game in 2005-06 while Kim Faulkner netted 20.9 an outing in 1983-84. 

Historical Perspective
With a 19-6 record, Widener has already posted the second most wins in program history, matching the 19 put up by the 2010-11 team and bested only by the 24-6 mark in 2012-13. The Blue and Gold previously won 18 games five times. 

Wire-To-Wire
Saturday's victory against Lycoming was the eighth this season where the Pride did not trail in the game. 

Dirty Dozen
If at all possible, Widener would prefer to not play on the 12th of a month. The Pride is 0-2 in the two games it has played on the 12th, losing to Stevenson on January 12 and Arcadia on February 12. The two losses came by seven and 13 points, the widest margins of the season. The other four losses WU suffered this season came by a total of 11 points. Fortunately, based on predetermined dates for potseason play, Widener cannot play another game on March 12. 

Day Tripper
The Blue and Gold is 11-2 in games played in the daytime (before 5:00 p.m).

Fitting In Nicely
One of the reasons for the turnaround for the Blue and Gold is the contributions of its freshman class. Erin Phelan has started every game and is 10th in the league in scoring at 12.6 an outing. Nicole Barnes has appeared in all 25 contests, contributing well on the defensive end, leading Widener and ranking eighth in the MAC Commonwealth with 46 steals. The Pride also has also seen valuable time from Brooke Bachtle, Jasmine Franklin, and Natalie Galle who have played in 69 of a possible 75 combined games this season. The newcomers have allowed WU to have a bench that goes 10 deep in most games. 

Up Next
The winner of the game between Widener and Lycoming faces the victor between Lebanon Valley and Messiah on Saturday afternoon. Should Messiah win, the game will be in Grantham, If Lebanon Valley wins, the game will be hosted by the Widener-Lycoming winner.