COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's basketball team treated the Helfferich Hall crowd to a 62-51 victory over Franklin & Marshall on Tuesday evening in their 2022-23 home opener.
 

With the win, the Bears improved to 3-2 on the season and open Centennial Conference play 1-0, meanwhile the Diplomats fall to 1-4 and start conference play 0-1. Junior Alison Lisanti matched her career-high with 19 points behind shooting a strong 5-of-7 from three-point range. Sophomore Chinwe Irondi added 18 points and five rebounds, while junior Natalie Mehl collected 10 points and five assists. Mehl and first-year Madison Smith tied for the team lead with six rebounds.

 
The Bears faced an early 2-0 deficit but after a Lisanti three-pointer at the 9:33 mark they never trailed in the contest in route to snapping a four-game skid to Franklin & Marshall. Ursinus scored ten consecutive points and held a 13-2 lead at the 6:47 mark of the first period. The run started behind Lisanti's second three-pointer and just seconds later Mehl connected on a deep ball as well. The Bears defense steeped up and Irondi scored on back-to-back opportunities to give the Bears a 11-point cushion. The Diplomats answered with an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to five with 4:44 remaining in the period. Ursinus closed out the period on a 6-0 run to push their lead to 11 at the end of the first.
 

Each team traded baskets over the opening five minutes of the second quarter as the Diplomats cut the Bears lead to seven after a layup from Jaclyn Feit with 4:41 to play in the half. Both defenses stepped up over the next three minutes as each offense struggled to create many opportunities. With 1:37 to play, the Bears closed the half on a 6-2 run and held a 31-22 lead at halftime. Irondi knocked down four free throws as Mehl connected on a jumper with under a minute remaining.

 
Ursinus blew the game open in the third period as they outscored F&M 16-9 in the third stanza to capture a 16-point lead heading into the fourth. Each team went scoreless over the opening minutes of the period until Irondi converted back-to-back free throws at the 6:52 mark. Franklin & Marshall scored four consecutive points, before Lisanti started to heat up knocking down consecutive threes. The Bears closed the period with a 5-2 run behind a layup from Smith and a three-pointer from Mehl.

 
In the fourth period, each team battled back and forth but the Bears defense stood tall as F&M cut the deficit to nine with a minute to go but two free throws from Smith gave Ursinus the 62-51 victory. The Bears shot 47.7% (21-44) from the field, a season high 57.1% (8-14) from three-point range and were a perfect 14-of-14 from the charity stripe. Franklin & Marshall's Kennedy led the Diplomats with a team-high 13 points and a game-high of eight rebounds.
 

The Bears will return to action on November 29 as they hit the road for a Centennial Conference matchup with Muhlenberg at 8pm.