GRANTHAM, Pa. – After a hard-earned win at Lebanon Valley on Monday to advance to the MAC semifinal, the Pride fell to the Messiah University Falcons on Wednesday 66-39.
 
Widener went 10-15 in the regular season and 1-1 in the postseason.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Mia Robbins led the way for Widener with 14 points. She was 6-14 from the field.
• The Pride had 38 rebounds, 14 of which were on the offensive side.
• Widener collected six blocks and 10 steals.

HOW IT HAPPENED AT JORDAN COURT IN HITCHCOCK ARENA
A Robbins' layup got the Pride on the board in the first quarter. She countered a made shot from Messiah moments later to make the score 6-4 Falcons. Gianna Samuels' three-pointer cut the deficit to two points, but Messiah went to the foul line soon after. Even though the Falcons went up as much as 14-7, a Mary McFillin layup trimmed their deficit to five. The Pride were unable to get a rhythm going in the middle portion of the quarter. Nearing the 2:30 mark, Jordan D'Ambrosio's two free throws were good. The score was 16-11 Falcons. While both sides made nice defensive plays, a Messiah bucket with 1:46 left was the final score of the quarter for either team. Messiah led after the initial 10 minutes, 18-11. The Pride grabbed eight rebounds, with three being offensive. They shot 4-14 (28.6%) from the field.

Although the Falcons jumped out to a 5-0 start in the second quarter, Robbins found the first bucket for Widener once again. Both teams would be held scoreless for over five minutes, but the Pride still recorded highlights during that stretch. McFillin and Lia Samuels were making plays defensively. Widener finally got to the free-throw line, where D'Ambrosio knocked down one shot of two. With the Falcons beginning to pull away, the Pride resorted to more free throws, this time from Lindsay Kutz. A Kutz layup would be the last score for Widener of the half. Widener went to the locker room down 31-18. The Pride shot 2-17 (11.8%) for the quarter, and they were scoreless from three-point range.

A layup from Robbins at 6:29 remaining was the Pride's first points in the second half. In the third quarter, Widener struggled to keep up with Messiah's offense. On the other end, the Falcons' defense prevented easy buckets from the Pride. An 8-0 Messiah run put them up 41-20, but Lia Samuels converted on a triple to stop the Falcons in their tracks. Both sides would exchange two successful free throws each to end the quarter. After three quarters, the Pride trailed 43-25. They shot 2-15 (13.3%) from the field.

Kutz began the final quarter with a layup to cut the deficit to 16. As the Falcons' lead rose to 20 points, the Pride got to the free-throw line for a few possessions to get into a groove. Nonetheless, Messiah continued pouring on points. Their 23 fourth-quarter points were the most for any quarter of the game for either side. With six minutes to go, the Falcons went on a final 11-4 run to seal the game. The last two buckets for Widener were scored by Robbins, who made two layups. Messiah won 66-39. For the game, the Pride saw 18 points in the paint and six points off turnovers.