READING, Pa. – The Albright women's basketball team was unable to overcome a hot-shooting Widener team as they dropped a 78=69 contest to the Pride on Friday night at the Bollman Center in MAC Commonwealth play.
 
With the loss, the Lions drop to 2-1 overall and in MAC Commonwealth play. Meanwhile, the Pride improved to 3-0 overall and in conference play. This was the first meeting between the two teams since the Lions overtime triumph over the Pride in the 2020 MAC Commonwealth Tournament semifinals.
 
Junior Maggie O'Hare led the Lions with a game-high 19 points while adding two rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Classmate Abby Gaffney posted 16 points, six rebounds, and registered a career-high seven assists. Junior Amina Rauf added 12 points behind going 4-of-7 from three-point range, and Brady Wassel tallied eight point along with a career-high six steals.
 
After a score on the first three possessions of the game, the Pride continued to be red-hot from the field as they raced out to a 13-4 lead at the 5:40-mark. Widener started 6-of-7 shooting from the field as they maintained its 11-point lead out to 19-8 at the 1:55-mark of the first quarter. The Lions rallied by ending the first quarter on an 8-2 run behind a pair of three-pointers from Rauf to make it a 21-16 deficit. Gaffney opened the second quarter by converting a three-point play to make it 21-19 before the Pride responded with a 14-4 run to take a 35-23 lead with 4:19 left in the first half. The Pride continued to control play as they ended the first half on an 8-2 run to go up 43-27 at halftime.
 
Widener picked up right where they left off in the first half by extending its lead out to 26 points at 62-36 with 2:27 left in the third quarter behind a 12-2 run. The Pride maintained a 64-41 lead at the end of the third quarter after sophomore Amy Jones made a three-pointer just before time expired. The Lions opened the fourth quarter with eight-straight points to make it a 64-49 game at the 8:11-mark. Albright forced a pair of turnovers during the run, while O'Hare scored half of the Lions points. The Lions made it within 10 points of the Pride with 1:24 left in regulation following a three-pointer from Rauf, but the Pride slammed the door on any further rally with a layup on the ensuing possession. Albright outscored the Widener 28-14 in the fourth quarter and shot 62.5 percent from the field.
 
The Lions shot 38.8 percent (26-of-67) from the field and went 9-of-23 (39.1%) from beyond the arc. Albright went a solid 8-of-10 (80%) from the field and scored 24 points off 15 Pride turnovers. Meanwhile, the Pride shot an even 50 percent (31-of-62) from the field and from three-point range (6-of-12). Widener went (10-of-15) 66.7 percent from the free throw line, and held a sizable 41-28 rebounding advantage. The Pride never trailed in the entire contest.
 
Kyra Schenk led the Pride with a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds, while adding four assists. Jordan D'Ambrosio posted 14 points after going 6-of-7 from the field, and Gianna Samuels tallied 14 points, seven assists, and five rebounds.
 
The two teams will meet again tomorrow, February 20^th, at Widener to conclude its home-and-home series with a 3 p.m. tip-off.