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ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — Widener got 44 second-half points, including all 14 of Joanna Persiano's, to rally past the Elizabethtown women's basketball team, 75-69, in a Commonwealth Conference contest at Thompson Gymnasium Wednesday evening.

Persiano was held off the scoresheet in the first half, but got hot midway through the second when she buried three 3-pointers to give Widener (18-4, 13-2 CC) a 59-46 lead with 8:19 left. Elizabethtown (11-10, 8-7 CC) fought its way back late in the second half with a 12-3 run, but could never get closer than three points.

The Jays went into the locker room with a 34-31 advantage behind ten points from Kendra Beittel and eight points from Taylor Kreider.

Taylor Alwine extended the lead to five with her jumper off a Kreider assist. The Pride responded as Persiano drilled back-to-back three pointers which brought the visitors level at 44-44. They would go on a 10-0 run covering a three-minute span. A Rachel Forjan steal led to a fast break layup for Beittel that stopped the run with 9:11 remaining.

Widener pushed their lead to as many as 12, 65-53, but Elizabethtown didn't go away quietly. By the 1:28 mark, the Jays had cut the lead down to just three after Alwine found Kreider for the lay-in. The Pride hit their free throws late to seal the game. E-town shot just 4-for-14 from the charity stripe, a 28.6% clip. Widener hit 14 of 19 free throws (73.7%).

Beittel led the Blue Jays with a season-high 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting. Kreider finished with 18 and Alyssa Aichele nine.

The E-town women travel to face Hood this Saturday, February 9, for their final road game of the season. Game time is set for 1 p.m.