COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Sophomore Chinwe Irondi netted a career-high 31 points as the Ursinus College women's basketball dropped a heartbreaker on Friday evening 61-59 against Neumann University.

 
With the loss, Ursinus falls to 3-6 on the season while the Knights improved to 5-5 overall. Irondi was stellar all evening finishing 14-of-19 from the field and recorded her fourth double-double of the season hauling in 11 rebounds. Junior Kelly Grant added six points, four assists, and a career-high 10 rebounds while classmate Natalie Mehl finished with five points and three assists.
 

The opening period featured back and forth action as the Knight struck first with a three-pointer at the 8:19 mark.  Irondi earned her first basket of the contest on the following possession as she drilled a mid-range jump shot cutting the Bears deficit to one. The sophomore forward could not miss early on as she scored ten consecutive points for the Bears, but a layup from Neumann's Lauren Klieber gave the Knights a 13-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. Ursinus tied the contest at 13 a piece early in the second quarter as Irondi converted on a layup within the paint. The Bears rallied for five consecutive points from Irondi behind a free throw and back-to-back layups jumping out to a 18-13 lead at the 7:22 mark. After each team traded baskets, junior Maria D'Aulerio connected on a three-pointer increasing the Bears lead to eight with five minutes remaining in the half. The Knights responded with six straight points cutting their deficit to two after a back-to-back three-pointers from Klieber and Mia Blume. The Bears answered by scoring the final six points of the quarter as Mehl and Irondi each scored, giving Ursinus a 29-21 lead at halftime.

 
Neumann opened the second half on a 11-2 run retaking a 32-31 lead at the 5:44 mark of the third quarter. Junior Katie McCusker collected her first basket of the contest as she converted on a layup giving Ursinus a one-point lead with 5:19 remaining. First-years Madison Smith and Stephanie Donato led a Bears 6-0 run giving Ursinus a 39-32 advantage. Smith capitalized on a mid-range jump shot while Donato connected on a three-pointer leading to a Knights timeout. Neumann closed out the third period with an 8-3 run cutting the Bears advantage in just two points heading into the final quarter.

 
The Bears opened the final stanza with the first basket as Irondi capitalized on a steal finding junior Sarah DiLello on a fastbreak. DiLello dished an assist back to Irondi who converted on a layup stretching the Bears lead to four. With Ursinus leading 44-40, each team traded baskets until a Neumann three-pointer from Chelsea Keebler gave the Knights a 47-46 edge. Mehl would tie the game at 47 a piece after a free throw swished with 6:25 to play. The Knights responded with five consecutive points to regain the lead, but a layup from Irondi cut the Bears deficit to just three with under five minutes to play. Later in the period, McCusker converted on two free throws from the charity stripe and a layup at the 1:49 mark gave Ursinus a 53-32 advantage. The Knights answered with a three-point play as Terea Hunt was fouled under the basket regaining a 55-53 lead. On the ensuing possession, Grant drilled a three-pointer awakening the Helfferich Hall crowd and giving Ursinus a one-point lead with 1:36 to play. The Knights capitalized on an offensive rebound on the next possession as Keebler answered with long-range three recapturing the lead for Neumann. After a successful Neumann free throw attempt, Grant would once again keep the Bears alive drilling another three-pointer tying the game at 59 all with 19 seconds remaining. The Knights responded with a Klieber turnaround layup, and a last chance pull-up jump shot rimmed out from Grant giving Neumann the road victory.

 
Ursinus shot 40% (24-of-60) from the field and 13.8% (4-of-29) from deep while converting on 53.8% (7-13) from the free throw line. Klieber led the Knights with a team-high 26 points, three rebounds, and three assists while Hunt added 12 points in the victory.

 
The Bears will rest up and enjoy the holiday break and return to action in 2023 with a Centennial Conference matchup against Washington College on Wednesday, January 4^th at 8 p.m.