ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, February 23, 2008

Widener Ends Elizabethtown's Season, 63-53

Click here for the box score

CHESTER, Pa. --- A 25-9 second-half run boosted Widener University to a 63-53 victory over Elizabethtown College in a showdown for the fourth and final Commonwealth Conference women's basketball playoff berth on Saturday afternoon.

Beth Dessart Mager scored a game-high 27 points, including 18 in the second half, and grabbed 13 rebounds as the Pride (11-14 overall, 3-7 Commonwealth) earned the right to face top-seeded Messiah College in semifinal action on Wednesday night.

Senior Audrey Hitz (Lebanon, PA/Annville-Cleona) tallied 13 points and 11 rebounds in her final career game for the Blue Jays (11-14 overall, 2-8 Commonwealth), who shot 27.3 percent (18-for-64) from the field as a team while Widener connected on 56.7 percent (17-for-30) in the second half alone.

Elizabethtown led 30-25 with 16:13 remaining, but the Pride scored seven straight points to take a 32-30 lead with 15:03 to go. The Blue Jays forced their last tie at 32-32 with 14:40 left, only to see Widener reel off seven straight points to go ahead 39-32 with 12:43 left.

The Blue Jays moved within 50-43 with 5:24 to go on a basket by Hitz, but an 8-1 run by the Pride pushed their lead to 58-44 with 2:12 to go and put the game away with five foul shots in the final 1:35.

Elizabethtown held an early 13-6 lead, and carried the advantage all the way to halftime at 22-19 despite hitting on just 20.6 percent (7-for-34) from the field.

Also reaching double figures for Widener was Megan Sipple, who tallied 11 points and eight rebounds, while Becky Tyler notched eight points and six boards for the Pride, who held a slim 46-45 edge in rebounding.

Junior Jenn Montague (Newark, DE/St. Mark's) finished with 11 points and five rebounds for the Blue Jays, and junior Megan Quinn (Millersville, PA/Penn Manor) added 10 points and six boards for Elizabethtown.

Senior Erin Walton (Columbus, NJ/Northern Burlington County) finished with four points and seven rebounds in 31 minutes of action, ending her illustrious four-year career ranked second on the Elizabethtown career scoring list with 1,702 points.

WIDENER UNIVERSITY 63, ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE 53
ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE (11-14, 2-8 CC)
Audrey Hitz 5-14 3-5 13; Jenn Montague 4-9 3-8 11; Megan Quinn 3-15 3-4 10; Amanda Reid 2-5 4-4 8; Courtney Kofeldt 3-5 0-0 7; Erin Walton 1-13 2-2 4; Megan Strohman 0-1 0-0 0; Ashley Toczylowski 0-3 0-0 0; Kirsti Larsen 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-66 15-23 53.
WIDENER UNIVERSITY (11-14, 3-7 CC)
Beth Dessart Mager 11-20 2-3 27; Megan Sipple 5-12 0-1 11; Becky Tyler 3-6 2-5 8; Rayne Reber 0-5 6-6 6; Laura Carson 2-4 0-0 4; Lindsey Isler 1-4 1-2 3; Stephanie Bixby 1-1 0-0 2; Barbara Fleming 0-3 1-2 1; Alex Held 0-2 1-2 1; Emily Brill 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-58 13-21 63.
Elizabethtown College......... 22 31 - 53
Widener University............ 19 44 - 63
3-point goals--Elizabethtown College 2-14 (Megan Quinn 1-5; Courtney Kofeldt 1-3; Amanda Reid 0-1; Erin Walton 0-2; Ashley Toczylowski 0-2; Kirsti Larsen 0-1), Widener University 4-17 (Beth Dessart Mager 3-5; Megan Sipple 1-5; Rayne Reber 0-4; Lindsey Isler 0-1; Barbara Fleming 0-2). Fouled out--Elizabethtown College-None, Widener University-None. Rebounds--Elizabethtown College 45 (Audrey Hitz 11), Widener University 46 (Beth Dessart Mager 13). Assists--Elizabethtown College 12 (Ashley Toczylowski 3; Erin Walton 3), Widener University 14 (Megan Sipple 4). Total fouls--Elizabethtown College 20, Widener University 18. Technical fouls--Elizabethtown College-None, Widener University-None. A-295