CHESTER, Pa. – Despite a late rally, Hood College Women's basketball was unable to overcome the early deficit and fell 71-46 in Wednesday afternoon's conference game against the Widener Pride. 
 
Inside the Box Score
 
Aliyah Taylor (Randallstown, Md./Pikesville High School) scored 11 points.
 
Tiffany Manning (Randallstown, Md./Western Tech) scored five points, grabbed eight rebounds, and led all players with four steals.
   
How it Happened
 
The pride jumped out to an early 7-0 lead before Libby Kiley (Taneytown, Md./Springdale Prep) found Kourtney Johnson (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch High School) to get the Blazers on the board. Manning got to the line and knocked down a pair of free throws but the rest of the first quarter belonged to Widener. Hood's turnovers were costly and led to immediate points for their opponent. After the first ten minutes, the Blazers trailed 23-8.
 
Johnson started the second quarter off by converting a three-point play coming at the end of a tough finish through contact. Widener responded with a quick scoring run that pushed their lead past 20. Chanelle Lee (Brunswick, Md./Saint John's Catholic Prep) and Sami Betley (Bel Air, Md./Mercy) showed some fight and tried to spark something for Hood. Similar to the first quarter, turnovers continued to plague the Blazers and halt any efforts to cut the deficit. The Pride capitalized on Hood's mistakes and carried a 43-19 lead into the break.
  
Lee started the second half aggressively and was able to add four points to Hood's total. Na'vaye Quarles was able to facilitate and generate some offense for the Blazers. The second half appeared to be much closer as both teams traded baskets. Aliyah Taylor (Randallstown, Md./Pikesville High School) and Serenity Ritchie (Martinsburg, W.V./Martinsburg High School) converted on some high percentage looks in the paint and helped keep the Blazers' comeback hopes alive. With neither team able to get an edge over the other, Widener's lead remained, and they entered the final frame up 59-33.

Taylor and Quarles went back-and-forth scoring for the Blazers; the pair accounted for all of Hood's points in the fourth quarter. Hood appeared to have settled in and cleaned up the turnovers. Unfortunately, it was too late. Although time was not on the Blazers' side, the late display of effort looked promising and could make for a much closer matchup when both teams face off in Woodsboro Bank Arena, in exactly one month. In the end, Widener won 71-46.
 
For the Opponent
 
Kimberley Casiello finished with 11 points and six assists. She went 3-3 from beyond the arc.
 
Riley Stackhouse and Mia Robbins each scored ten points.
  
Analysis
 
The Pride scored 37 points off turnovers while the Blazers had 13.
  
Widener shot 40 percent from long-range compared to Hood's zero.
  
Up Next
 
Hood returns home to host Messiah Saturday, January 11 at 1:00 p.m..