IMMACULATA, Pa. – The Ursinus Women's Basketball team used an all-around performance on Wednesday evening defeating Immaculata 65-55 in their season opener.  

 
The Bears continued their success against the Mighty Macs as they have won three of the last four meetings.  

 
Sophomore forward Chinwe Irondi picked up where she left off from last season earning a double-double behind 20 points, 11 rebounds, and two blocks. Junior Natalie Mehl scored 17 points behind five three-pointers, while junior Kelly Grant added 13 points and finished with a team-high six assists.  

 
Ursinus jumped on the board first at the 9:23 mark of the first period as Grant found Irondi under the basket for a quick layup. The Pride scored the next six points of the game, before junior Alison Lisanti drilled a three to cut the Bears deficit to one at the 7:43 mark. Ursinus regained an 11-9 lead after Irondi answered with back-to-back buckets over their next two possessions. Each team traded points over the final minutes of the first period, but a jumper from Irondi at the buzzer gave Ursinus a 20-18 lead heading into the second period.  

 
 Immaculata opened the second quarter with a three-pointer from Megan Ricker to regain the lead, but the Bears quickly responded on the following possession with a three from Grant. Iorndi stretched the Bears lead to four after an offensive board and a layup made the score 25-21. The Mighty Macs tied the game at 25 a piece at the 6:07 mark, but a steal from Margrett Brown allowed junior Katie McCusker to find Mehl for a three-pointer. Just under a minute later, Mehl once again connected on a three to stretch the Bears lead to four. Each defense stood tall over the final four minutes as the Mighty Macs ended the quarter on a 2-1 run to make the score 32-29 at halftime.  

 
In the beginning of the second half, each team struggled on the offensive end through the first three minutes before Grant found Lisanti cutting towards the basket for an easy layup. Immaculata cut the Bears lead to just one on the following possession after a layup from Abigail Lentowski made the score 34-33. The Mighty Macs regained a 36-34 lead, after holding the Bears scoreless until a three-pointer from Mehl connected at the 3:15 mark. Sophomore Kylie McNicholas drilled a jump shot at the 1:34 mark of the period, but each team traded baskets until a three-pointer from Brown at the buzzer gave Ursinus a four-point lead heading into the fourth.   

 
Each team traded buckets to open the fourth quarter, before Irondi scored five consecutive points for Ursinus to make the score 51-44. After an Immaculata basket, Grant swished two free throws and a Mehl three-pointer stretched the Bears lead to double digits. Ursinus closed out the contest shooting 9-of-12 from the charity stripe for a 65-55 road victory over the defending Atlantic East Conference champions.  

 
The Bears shot 39.2 percent (20-51) from the field and went 8-of-28 (28.6%) from three-point range. Meanwhile, the Pride shot 35.5 percent (22-62) from the field and were held to just 4-of-21 from behind the arc, while only hitting half of their shots from the charity stripe (7-14). Lentowski led the Mighty Macs with a team-high 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Morgan Falcone collected 10 points and five assists.  
 
 
Ursinus will return to action on Saturday for a non-conference road matchup against Albright at 1pm.