CHESTER, PA – The second seeded Widener University Pride used a big third quarter to pull away from third seeded York 69-59 on Wednesday night in the MAC Commonwealth Semifinals in Chester, PA.
The Spartans took a six point lead into halftime but the Pride came out smoking in the third quarter, outscoring 26-11 to seize control of the game.
The Spartans campaign closes at 15-11 while the Pride advance to face top seeded Messiah in the Commonwealth championship game on Saturday. Widener enters the championship game with a school-record 22 wins as they are now 22-4.
 
How It Happened
• The Spartans got off to a fantastic start as they jumped out to a 7-2 as Taylor Burda opened the game with a three followed by two lay-ups from Breana Grim to take the early lead. Mary McFillin hit a three to bring the Pride to within two at 9-7 but the Spartans ended the quarter with a 9-2 run as they lead 18-9 after one quarter of play.
• Burda started the second quarter just like the first as she hit a three to push the lead to 21-9 40 seconds into the period. The teams took turns trading buckets as the Spartans were able to maintain their lead. Makenna Zimmerman hit a lay-up with 6:33 to put York up 27-16. The Pride then hit York with a 11-6 run to close out the quarter as the Green and White went cold towards the end of the period.
• The second half began with the two teams trading threes on four straight possessions as McFillin and Gianna Samuals hit threes for York while Grim and Burda cashed out triples for the Spartans. The teams then traded buckets as the Spartan lead was 41-37 with 7:30 left. That's when it all changed for the Spartans as Widener outscored York 18-3 over the final 6:50 of the third quarter. Widener was 7-for-13 from the field and 4-for-7 from three during the spurt that turned a four-point Spartan lead into a nine-point Pride lead heading to the fourth.
• Widener finished the third quarter shooting 55.6% (10-for-18) from the floor and caught fire from beyond the arc as they went 6-for-10 over the ten minutes of the quarter. Conversely, the Spartans were just 3-for-17 from the floor in the third.
• Widener kept their foot on the gas as they began the fourth quarter with a 12-5 run, pushing the lead to 16 with 3:55 left in the game. York finished the game on a 10-4 run over the final 3:40 but the Spartans ran out of time as they had their season ended at Widener for the third consecutive year.
 
By the Numbers
The Spartans finished the game shooting 34.9% (22-for-63) including 8-for-23 (34.9%) from three … the Spartans did convert 7-of-8 (87.5%) from the free throw line … Widener finished the game shooting 42.6% (26-for-61) from the floor while they went 12-for-27 (44.4%) from three … Widener went 9-for-14 from three in the second half … the Pride shot 62.5% (5-for-8) from the free throw line … Widener won the battle on the glass 40-28 and that advantage was more pronounced in the second half as the Pride had a 22-12 margin on the boards … Widener had 13 offensive rebounds but that only led to nine second chance points, the same number of points that York had on their seven offensive boards … the Spartans had just eight turnovers in the game while Widener had 13 miscues … both teams had eight points off turnovers in the game … York led for 23:44 of the game while Widener had the advantage on the scoreboard in 15:12 of play … Widener was credited with 22 assists on their 26 made field goals while York had 11 on their 22 made shots.
 
Spartan Notes
Widener leads the all-time series 7-2 as they have won four straight in the series including all three games in 2023-24 … the Spartans are now 1-2 all-time in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament … the teams combined to shoot a season-low 16 free throws as both teams attempted eight … the Spartans had a season-low eight turnovers as it was just the second time this year they had less than double-digits in turnovers (9 at Lebanon Valley) … York finished the year as road warriors as they played 16 of their 26 games away from Charles Wolf Gymnasium … York was 10-6 on the road this year … sophomore Breana Grim led the way for the Spartans in the game as she poured in 18 points, grabbed four rebounds, had four assists, a blocked shot and was credited with one steal … Taylor Burda had a strong ending to her junior year as she tallied 15 points as she was 5-for-9 from distance … she also had a rebound, two assists, and a steal … Alyssa Hocker added 10 rebounds, six points, an assist and a steal in her 30 minutes of work ... York finished third in the league after being picked sixth in the preseason poll.

Up Next
The loss concludes the 2023-24 season for the Spartans. York must say goodbye to seniors Brooklyn Naylor and Bailey Springer while fellow senior Alyssa Hocker will return to the Spartans for a fifth year. The 2024-25 season kicks off in early November.