RADNOR, Pa. – The Cabrini women's basketball team took Widener down to the wire, but their comeback attempt fell short today, as the Cavaliers suffered a 71-60 loss to the Pride on the opening day of the Cabrini Holiday Classic at Nerney Field House.

The nonconference loss sends the Blue and White to 4-6 on the season, while Widener improves to 8-2.

Senior Meghan Martin hit 8-9 from the free throw line and grabbed five rebounds en route to her second career 20 point outing.  Junior Renee Oliver added 11 points, with six coming in the third quarter, while matching Martin's five boards.

Sophomore Sabrina Hackendorn earned game high honors with 12 rebounds, her fourth game of the season with double figure rebounds.

The Cavaliers built an early cushion before the Pride used a 7-0 spurt to take an 11-8 advantage.  Martin's lay-up evened the score at 12 before senior Brianna Wylie's bucket put Widener ahead 14-12 at after 10 minutes.

Both clubs battled back and forth in the second stanza, but with the Cavaliers holding a 24-22 lead with just under four minutes to play, Widener used a 10-0 run to gain a 32-24 lead with 57 seconds left in the half. A pair of late free throws extended the Pride's lead to 34-35 at the half.  

The Cavaliers wasted little time eliminating their deficit, as senior Kristina Startare's three pointer capped a 7-2 spurt to open the half.  Martin knocked down a pair of free throws and connected on a jumper to put Cabrini ahead 42-38 with just over four minutes left in the third.

Widener took control of the game in a pivotal four minute stretch to end the quarter, as it held Cabrini scoreless over the final four minutes, closing the stanza on an 8-0 run.

The Blue and White pulled to within three points twice in the opening minutes of the final quarter, but the Pride connected on 13-18 free throw attempts in the final 10 minutes to seal the win. Senior Ally Ferrucci led the way, hitting 8-10 from the stripe in the game's final five minutes.

Ferrucci played all 40 minutes, notching 19 points, five assists and three steals.  Sophomore Allison Gallagher added 14 points for Widener, while senior Nikki Sutliff scored 13 points off the bench.

In the day's opening game, Rowan improved to 11-0 with a 74-65 victory over Eastern.  Graduate student Kate Matthews led the Profs with a monster double-double, tallying 17 points and 17 rebounds to lead all scorers.

Junior Anyssa Sanchez added 11 points for the Profs, while graduate student Kaitlin Schullstrom filled the stat sheet with 10 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Eastern (7-3) sophomore Taylor Price narrowly missed a triple double, accounting for 19 points, 10 rebounds and eight dimes in her 40 minutes of action.  Junior Emily Lavin added 15 points, 11 boards and six blocked shots.

The Cabrini Holiday Classic will resume on Thursday with Eastern and Widener matching wits in the opener at Noon, while the Cavaliers will try to hand Rowan its first loss of the campaign at 2 p.m.