LANCASTER, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's basketball team battled throughout their Centennial Conference matchup with Franklin & Marshall, but eventually fell 60-48 on the road Thursday evening.
 
 
With the loss, the Bears fell to 7-11 overall and 4-9 in Centennial Conference action, meanwhile the Diplomats improved to 7-10 overall and 4-8 in conference play.
 
 
Sophomore Chinwe Iorndi secured her ninth double-double of the season with 13 points and a game high 14 rebounds while junior Natalie Mehl chipped in eight points and two rebounds.  Senior Alyssa Martin collected a season-high seven points behind a perfect three-of-three from the field, while junior Alison Lisanti tallied nine points (3-6 3PT) and two rebounds.
 


The Diplomats earned the first basket of the game behind a three-pointer from Lizzie Neville, but the Bears answered with two Irondi free throws at the 8:32-mark. After a good jump shot from F&M, Irondi once again answered with a layup to keep the deficit at one with 7:33 to play. Each defense stepped up on the next three minutes as both teams went scoreless until a layup from F&M's Jaclyn Feit gave the Diplomats a three-point advantage. On the ensuing possession for the Diplomats, Irondi collected a steal and was awarded on the opposite end from a pass by first-year Madison Smith for an easy layup in the paint. The Bears tied the game at nine a piece with 59 seconds to play in the quarter behind a Lisanti three pointer. Franklin & Marshall closed the quarter on a 3-2 run and held a 12-11 lead through the first period.
 


Each team traded baskets in the opening minutes of the second quarter but a 6-0 run from the Diplomats increased their lead to seven at the 5:32-mark. The Diplomats stretched their lead to 11 at the 3:42-mark before an Alyssa Martin jumper cut the Bears deficit to single digits with 2:30 to play in the half. Ursinus scored the final six points of the half behind three points from Martin and Mehl drilling a three-pointer in the closing seconds cutting the Diplomats lead to seven at half.
 


The Diplomats increased their lead to double-digits in the opening two minutes of the second half behind a 7-0 run and held a 35-21 lead at the 8:24-mark. Ursinus used an 8-2 run to cut their deficit to eight with 4:10 to play in the quarter. Smith started the run scoring six-straight points for the Bears and an Irondi layup in the paint made the score 37-29. The Diplomats drilled back-to-back three pointers over the next two possessions as Hope Schreiber and Lizzie Neville stretched the F&M lead back to 14. The Bears would answer with back-to-back three-pointers from Lisanti cutting their deficit to nine points at the end of three quarters.


 
Ursinus opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer from Kelly Grant to cut their deficit to six, but back-to-back F&M baskets stretched their lead to double-digits with 8:43 to play. The Bears would answer once again with a three from Mehl, but the Diplomats responded with a three-pointer of their own to increase their lead to ten. After an Irondi layup on the next possession, each team would go scoreless over the next two minutes until two successful free throws from Franklin & Marshall's Natalie Kolb. With the Diplomats leading 55-43 and 4:38 to play, Mehl would connect on back-to-back free throws cutting the Bears deficit to ten. The Diplomats would close out the contest on a 5-3 run to capture the 60-48 conference victory.
 


Ursinus shot 27.6% (16-58) from the field, 30% (6-20) from behind the arc, and 71.4% from the free throw line. The Bears held an 18-8 edge in bench points, while the Diplomats shot 35.3% (6-17) from behind the three-point line and held a 38-35 edge in rebounds.
 


The Bears will return to action on Saturday as they host Dickinson College for a 1pm start from Helfferich Hall.