COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's basketball team nearly completed a comeback as Washington College edges Bears 59-58 from Helfferich Hall on Wednesday evening. 



With the loss, the Bears fall to 3-7 overall and 1-5 in Centennial Conference action. Meanwhile, the Shorewomen improved to 8-3 on the season and 4-2 in conference play.


 
Sophomore Chinwe Irondi led the way for Ursinus finishing just shy of a double-double with 21 points and eight rebounds, while junior Alison Lisanti collected 14 points (4-11 3PT) behind shooting 41.7% from the field. Classmate Sarah DiLello tallied nine points and four rebounds as Katie McCusker finished with five points, eight rebounds, and four steals.


 
The Bears jumped on the board first as junior Katie McCusker drilled a mid-range jump shot to give Ursinus a 2-0 lead at the 8:48-mark. Washington College quickly responded with a 4-0 run to capture the lead as they connected on back-to-back layup attempts. DiLello answered for Ursinus with a three-pointer on the ensuing possession to give the Bears a one-point advantage at the 6:42-mark. After two free throws from the Shorewomen, DiLello answered again for Ursinus drilling her second three-pointer. The Shorewomen scored five consecutive points as they capitalized on an offensive rebound for an open layup and on the next possession senior Andrea Prestianne connected on a three-pointer increasing their lead to three. With Washington College leading 11-8, the Bears offense started to heat as junior Natalie Mehl splashed a three-pointer while Lisanti drilled back-to-back threes closing out the quarter an 8-3 run and giving Ursinus a 19-14 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
 

 
In the opening minutes of the second period each team traded baskets as the Shorewomen used a 6-3 run to cut the Bears' lead to two with 6:32 remaining in the half. Moments later, first-year Makenna Foder tallied an assist as she found Lisanti in the corner for an open three-pointer extending the Bears lead to five at the 5:44-mark. Each team struggled to find open opportunities as both defenses held the opposition scoreless for three minutes until Prestianne scored seven consecutive points to give the Shorewomen a 27-25 advantage. Lisanti answered for the Bears as she knocked down her fourth three-pointer of the half to give Ursinus a one-point lead heading into half-time.
 


Washington College scored the first four points out of the halftime break as Prestianne collected a mid-range jump shot at the 8:44-mark. After an Ursinus timeout, Irondi started to heat up tallying her second basket of the game at the 7:45-mark cutting the Bears deficit to one. Washington College responded with a layup but four consecutive points from Irondi gave the Bears a one-point advantage leading to a Shorewomen timeout at the 5:49-mark. Each team went scoreless for the next two minutes until Washington's Amari Faust collected a layup, but Natalie Mehl connected on a three-pointer extending the Ursinus lead to two. With the Bears leading 38-35, the Shorewomen scored six consecutive points before two free throws from McCusker cut the Bears deficit to one at the end of the third quarter.
 

 
McCusker opened the final stanza with a slick pass to Irondi under the rim for a quick two points to open the fourth giving the Bears a one-point advantage. The Shorewomen responded with back-to-back three pointers from Prestianne giving Washington College a five-point lead with 8:27 to play. Irondi and Mehl each scored for the Bears in the following minutes, but Washington College responded each time with layups from Joy Sanders and Faust holding onto a four-point advantage. After a Shorewomen timeout, Irondi scored four consecutive points for Ursinus including two free throws cutting the deficit to three at the 4:45-mark. McCusker and Irondi combined to go three-of-four from the line at the 1:22 mark giving Ursinus a 56-55 lead late in the quarter. After a missed layup from the Shorewomen, Mehl found Lisanti under the rim for a quick layup and a three-point advantage with 44 seconds to play. Washington's Prestianne was fouled on the ensuing possession as she cut the Bears lead to one after connecting on two free throws. The Bears missed two free throws with 22 seconds to play as WAC's Serena Pluta collected two free throws on the opposite end giving the Shorewomen a one-point lead with five seconds remaining. Ursinus nearly found an open look on the final play of the contest as a pass was tipped by the Shorewomen's defense leading to an off balance shot for the Bears.
 

 
Ursinus shot 37% (20-of-54) from the field and 37% (10-of-27) from deep, while converting on 57.1% (8-14) from the free throw line. The Shorewomen held a 35-34 edge in rebounds while shooting 40% (20-of-50) from the field, 62.5% (5-8) from three-point range, and each team finished with 17 turnovers. Andrea Prestianne led the Shorewomen with a career-high 27 points and four rebounds while first-year Kaitlyn Boggs finished with a team-high eight rebounds.
 

 
The Bears will return to action on Saturday, January 7^th as they host Penn State Brandywine at 3:00 p.m.