ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Pride are moving on to the next round of the MAC Commonwealth playoffs after winning on Monday at Lebanon Valley 61-52.

After losing both games against the Dutchmen in the regular season, the Pride now prepare for Messiah in the semifinals.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Jordan D'Ambrosio was the driving force for Widener's offense, scoring 22 points. No one else on either team scored more than 15.
• The Pride were 22-54 (40.7%) from the field and 14-21 (66.7%) from the foul line.
• Widener scored more points off turnovers than Lebanon Valley, 17-14.

HOW IT HAPPENED AT SORRENTINO GYMNASIUM
A Mia Robbins jumper got the Pride on the board. Both teams would struggle to find a rhythm early in the game, but a D'Ambrosio triple snapped the drought. The score was 7-2 with 5:09 left in the first quarter. As Ava Baer checked into the game, she proceeded to get her first score of the game 30 seconds later from a D'Ambrosio assist. The quarter came to a close with both sides trading buckets. Gianna Samuels hit a pull-up jumper, while Cristina Fernandez of Lebanon Valley hit a layup as the buzzer sounded. After the first 10 minutes, the score was 15-11 Widener. The Pride shot 43.8% in the quarter compared to Lebanon Valley's 27.8%. They also collected 12 rebounds.

D'Ambrosio answered a Dutchmen basket with a jumper of her own to start the second quarter. Despite the close score, the Pride found ways to prevent the Dutchmen from taking the lead. D'Ambrosio's layup attempt was good with 3:20 left in the half, giving Widener a 21-18 advantage. After a Lebanon Valley bucket got their deficit to one, the Pride used a 6-0 run to keep the Dutchmen scoreless for the remainder of the quarter. Widener's final points of the half came from Mary McFillin. Widener led 27-20 after the first half. The Pride scored 12 points in the quarter to Lebanon Valley's nine points, and Widener had two steals.

Following a 6-0 Lebanon Valley push to open the second half, a McFillin three stopped the Dutchmen in their efforts. The score was 30-26 Widener with 6:37 left. A D'Ambrosio triple moments later got their lead back to seven points, forcing a Lebanon Valley timeout. Out of the timeout, the Pride began to open up the offense. Widener scored six consecutive points thanks to D'Ambrosio free throws and layups from Kimberly Casiello and Lindsay Kutz. Three free throws by Robbins were the last points the Pride had in the third quarter. Widener led 44-35 at the conclusion of the first 30 minutes. The Pride converted 2-4 (50%) of their three-point shots and were 5-6 (83.3%) from the free-throw line.

A successful layup from D'Ambrosio was Widener's initial score in the final quarter. The Pride now had a double-digit lead, 46-35. Although the Dutchmen once again used a 6-0 run to cut into the deficit, D'Ambrosio scored another bucket with 7:04 left to get the lead back to seven. Toward the two-minute mark, the Dutchmen were within five points. However, Lebanon Valley was forced to foul Widener players to get the ball back. Robbins, Casiello, and McFillin went to the free-throw line and converted seven of eight shots (87.5%). McFillin was the last person to score for Widener. The Pride were victorious against the Dutchmen 61-52. Widener had the lead for 98.2% of the game.

UP NEXT
The Pride will be on the road on Wednesday to face the Messiah University Falcons in Grantham, Pa. The Falcons hold a 20-game winning streak and a perfect 16-0 conference record. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.