The Pride, coached by former Delaware Valley All-American Alisa DiBonaventura, improved to a perfect 3-0 on the season. The Aggies fell to 1-2.
Widener led throughout most of the game and took a 37-29 advantage into the intermission. The Pride then built the lead to as many as 15 in the second half and was still up by 57-44 with six minutes remaining.
Delaware Valley made things interesting with an 11-0 run, including six by Rachel Joyce, to make it a 57-55 ballgame with 3:32 to go. Widener built the lead back up to six on three occasions but Joyce’s layup with 1:26 remaining made it 65-61. However, 19 seconds later, Widener’s Megan Sipple drove to the basket and made a layup while being fouled. Sipple then converted the free throw for the 3-point play and the Aggies never got closer than five points the rest of the way.
Sipple came off the bench to pace the Pride with 17 points. Kelly Guarrera added 14 points and seven rebounds while Beth Dessart Mager contributed 12 points and seven boards. Rayne Reber also hit double figures with 12 points.
Joyce led all players with 24 points and 12 rebounds and the senior forward is now just 27 points shy of the 1,000-point plateau in her career. Junior forward Brooke Dittmar scored a career-high 18 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds. The tandem of Moira Donohue and Shannon O’Neill came into the contest averaging a combined 47 points per game, but they were held to just 17 points.