BOX SCORE

Reading, Pa. (Feb. 11,2010) – Widener University (12-10, 8-3) used an 11-3 run late in the second half to open up a double-digit lead en route to an 85-76 win over Alvernia University (12-8, 6-4) Thursday evening in Commonwealth Conference women's basketball action at the Physical Education Center.

“We did a poor job of keeping their guards in front of us,” said Alvernia head coach Kevin Calabria summing up the loss. “They were really penetrating on us and setting stuff up inside.”

The guards handed out assists on three of the four buckets they scored while the Pride turned a four-point lead (71-67) into a 12-point cushion (82-70) with 3:12 left to play. They finished with 21 assists on 31 buckets.

Widener used a 7-0 spurt in the first half to take control the first time. Sophomore center Casey Pritz, who scored a team-high 19, scored five of the seven during the run that put the Pride up 32-27 in the early going.

“I thought the key to the game was that we had to outplay [Pritz],” Calabria said. “We gave it a valiant effort, but I thought she was the difference in the game.”

Widener pushed its first half lead to as many as eight points and settled for a six-point lead at the break, 42-36. Pritz had nine, which was matched by Alvernia junior Kelli McIntyre (Orwigsburg, Pa./Blue Mountain), and three other Widener players added eight each.

The second half lead grew to nine points early for the Pride, but Alvernia erased it with a 14-4 run taking a 52-51 lead with 14:35 left to play. Alex Velazquez (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) led the way with six for the Crusaders and McIntyre and Kayla Long (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Central) added four points each. McIntyre finished with a game-high 21 and Velazquez scored 20.


Widener took the lead back twice over the next two minutes and pieced together a 9-1 run to push the lead to a more comfortable seven points, 62-55 with 11:13 left.
Alvernia pulled within four points, 67-71 on a 3-point play from Allie Toczylowski (Mantua, N.J./Clearview Regional), but Widener went 4-for-4 from the floor during the decisive run over the next three minutes.

“We had more offensive boards, more 3-pointers, they turned the ball over more—we won all those battles,” Calabria said, “but they made 50 percent of their field goals. They just shot the ball real well.”

The Pride finished 31-of-62 from the floor including a modest 4-of-10 from the 3-point arc. Lil Carney joined Pritz in double-digits with 18 for Widener as did Kate Dellinger and Becky Tyler with 16 and 12 respectively. Toczylowski also reached doubles with 11 for the Crusaders.

“We just gotta guard a little bit better,” Calabria said in his final analysis.

He then turned to what's next.

“Saturday's game is huge for us,” he continued. “[Lycoming] lost in overtime to Lebanon Valley. I just tried to explain the urgency to them.”

The Crusaders hold a two-game lead over Lycoming for the fourth and final playoff spot. Alvernia is at Lycoming on Saturday then at Albright on Tuesday and will play three times in the last six days of the regular season hosting Messiah next Thursday and Lebanon Valley next Saturday.

Widener 86, Alvernia 75