COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Behind an impressive first half showing, the Ursinus College women's basketball team cruised to an 87-47 victory over Penn State Brandywine on Monday evening from Helfferich Hall.
 

With the victory, Ursinus improves to 2-0 on the season while the Nittany Lions sit at 0-2 overall. Junior forward Chinwe Irondi recorded a game-high 23 points (11-of-20), nine rebounds (eight offensive), and three blocks. while senior Natalie Mehl added 12 points and three assists. First-year Madison Smith and senior Alison Lisanti each tallied 11 points apiece with senior Kelly Grant (six assists) and sophomore Ava Possenti (four assists) combining for 10 assists. 
 

Penn State Brandywine took an early 5-0 lead before Irondi scored the first five points for the Bears to tie the game with 6:52-remaining in the first quarter. The Nittany Lions tallied the next basket before an 11-2 Ursinus run gave the Bears a 16-9 lead at the 1:51-mark. First-year Madison Smith and Irondi each collected layups, before senior Alison Listanti connected on a three-pointer to stretch the Bears lead to seven. Ursinus closed out the first period on a 7-3 run and held a 23-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. First-year forward Emma Afflerbach snagged an offensive rebound and finished strong with a layup, while Sarah DiLello connected on a three-pointer at the buzzer for the 11-point lead. Irondi opened the scoring during the second quarter collecting the first four points for the Bears before a layup from the Nittany Lions made the score 27-16. At the 7:05-mark, senior Kelly Grant found Mehl for a three-pointer that sparked an 8-2 Bears run. Ursinus closed out the first half on an 8-1 run and held a 48-19 lead at the break. During the run, Smith knocked down a jump shot while Lisanti and sophomore Makenna Foder each connected on three-pointers for the Bears.

 
The Ursinus defense continued to play well to start the second half as Smith collected back-to-back steals resulting into easy baskets for the Bears. Later in the period, Mehl and Lisanti each connected on three pointers extending the Ursinus lead to 60-24 with 6:53-remaining in the third quarter. The Bears ended the third stanza with an 11-6 run and held a 73-43 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Nittany Lions opened the final period with a 7-0 run, before a layup from senior Maria D'Aulerio halted the Nittany Lion run. During the next possession, D'Aulerio recorded a steal and first-year Erin Glanz assisted on a basket to junior Charlotte DiLello to extend the Bears lead to 37. Sophomores Jaycie Miller and Mel Hiotis closed out the game combining for eight of the final ten points resulting in a 87-47 victory for the Bears.
 
 
Ursinus shot 48.7% (37-of-76) from the field, 30.4% (7-of-23) from three-point range, and 85.7% (6-of7) from the charity stripe. Penn State Brandywine shot 34% (17-of-50) from the field, 41.2% (7-of-17) from deep, and 60% (6-of-10). The Bears totaled 19 offensive rebounds and finished with a 40-34 advantage in rebounds, while the Ursinus defense forced 33 turnovers and recorded 39 points off turnovers. For the Nittany Lions, Athena Brombacher led the way with 15 points and nine rebounds, while teammate Sierra Diawara finished with 14 points behind shooting four-of-five from three-point range.
 

The Bears will return to action on Wednesday, November 15^th as they travel to Aston, Pennsylvania for a non-conference matchup against Neumann University at 7 p.m.