COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – A huge second half from the Ursinus College women's basketball team lifted the Bears to a 56-40 Centennial Conference victory over Haverford College on Tuesday evening from Helfferich Hall. 
 

Ursinus outscored the Fords 37-16 in the second half erasing a five-point halftime deficit in route to their fifth consecutive victory to open the season. The Bears are off to their best start in program history behind a 5-0 record and a 2-0 mark in Centennial Conference action, while the Fords fall to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play.

 
Junior forward Chinwe Irondi led the way offensively for Ursinus finishing with a game-high 18 points and a season-best 14 rebounds, including nine offensive boards. Sophomore forward Madison Smith recorded her third double-double of the season behind 13 points and 10 rebounds while tying a career-best four steals. Senior guard Sarah DiLello finished with a game-high four assists and six points, while sophomore Ava Possenti tallied six points and a career-high six steals.

 
Irondi opened the scoring in the contest recording the first two baskets to give Ursinus a 4-0 advantage with 8:01 remaining in the opening frame. For the first basket, Smith tallied a steal to lead to the opening score before Irondi collected back-to-back offensive rebounds to put home the second basket. After a Haverford basket, senior guards Kelly Grant and Sarah Dilello connected on mid-range jump shots to give Ursinus an 8-4 advantage at the 4:04-mark. The Fords closed out the period on a 7-0 run to capture an 11-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.

 
Each team opened the second period with a basket before back-to-back layups from Shaw Mercer and Summer Ryan gave the Fords a 17-10 advantage with 8:07 remaining in the half. Ursinus was held scoreless for nearly three minutes, before a free throw from Irondi cut the Haverford lead to 19-11 at the 5:44-mark. Moments later, the Bears cut their deficit to six as Grant collected a steal and assisted on a basket from first-year Colleen Blackman to make the score 19-13. The Fords responded with a 5-0 run over the next minute to increase their lead to 24-13 with 4:45 remaining in the half. The Bears bounced back with a 6-0 run over the remainder of the first half to make the score 24-19 at the halftime break. Grant, Smith, and Irondi each recorded a free throw while the Bears defense held the Fords scoreless for the final 4:45 of the half.
 

Haverford opened the second half connecting on each of their first two shots to increase their lead to 28-19 at the 8:50-mark of the third quarter. Ursinus was held scoreless for nearly the first three minutes of the second half, before an offensive rebound from Irondi led to a layup from Smith at the 7:18-mark. The Bears bounced back with a 7-0 run over the next three minutes of play to tie the contest at 28 apiece with 4:39 remaining in the third stanza. The Bears defense combined for three steals over the run, while Possenti recorded four of the seven Ursinus points to the game. The Bears regained their first lead since the opening period when sophomore Makenna Foder collected a layup to give Ursinus a 30-28 advantage. After a Haverford basket, the Bears closed out the final three minutes of play on a 7-3 run to capture a 37-33 advantage at the end of the third quarter.
 

With the momentum, Ursinus opened the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run to capture a 44-33 lead with 8:02 remaining in the contest. Smith and Irondi each recorded baskets, while senior Alison Lisanti recorded a three-pointer and a block on the defensive end to highlight the Bears run. After each team traded baskets, the Bears defense would force the Fords to go scoreless over the final 5:47 of the play in route to the 16-point victory. Ursinus closed out the contest on an 8-0 run including outscoring the Fords 19-7 in the final period.
 
 
The Bears shot 35.4% (23-of-65) from the field, 45% (9-of-20) from the charity stripe, while scoring 24 points off turnovers and 16 second chance points. Haverford shot 40.0% (18-of-45) from the field, 33.3% (3-of-9) from three-point range, and 33.3% (1-of-3) from the free line. Ursinus forced a total of 29 Ford turnovers, while out rebounding the visitors 41-36.  Haverford's Shae Mercer finishing with a team-high 16 points (7-of-15 FG) and four rebounds.
 

The Bears will return to action on Thursday, November 30th as they travel to face Gettysburg College for a 7 p.m. start from Bream Gymnasium.