WESTMINSTER, Md. – The Ursinus College women's basketball team nearly completed a comeback, but eventually fell on the road to McDaniel College 62-58 on Saturday afternoon.
 
 
With the loss, Ursinus moves to 5-2 on the season and 2-2 in Centennial Conference action. Meanwhile, the Green Terror improved to 6-2 overall and 2-2 in conference play. The Bears trailed by 15 at the halftime break, before battling all the way back to be within one possession with under a minute remaining in the contest. Junior forward Chinwe Irondi paced the Ursinus offense with 16 points and six rebounds, while sophomore Madison Smith netted 15 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Senior guard Alison Lisanti tallied nine points behind shooting three of six from three-point range, while senior Sarah DiLello collected a team-high four assists.
 
 
McDaniel jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, before a three-pointer from senior Kelly Grant cut the Bears deficit to one at the 7:48-mark of the first period. After a McDaniel successful free throw, Irondi recorded her first basket of the contest to tie the game at five a piece. The Green Terror responded with a 9-0 run to recapture a 14-5 lead with 3:28 remaining in the opening stanza. The Bears were held scoreless for nearly five minutes of action, until a layup from Sarah DiLello cut the deficit to seven at the 2:00-mark. Junior Charlotte DiLello and Smith combined for the final four points for Ursinus in the quarter, but back-to-back three-pointers gave the Green Terror a 20-11 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
 

McDaniel opened the scoring in the second quarter with a jump shot from Peyton Tague, but Ursinus quickly responded with a three by Sarah DiLello to cut the deficit to eight at the 9:05-mark. After each team traded baskets, the Green Terror used an 11-0 run to control a 35-16 lead with 3:39 remaining in the opening half. Ursinus was held scoreless for almost seven minutes of action, until a basket from Irondi with 38 seconds remaining in the quarter. Sophomore Makenna Foder added two late free throws with the final seconds, but the Bears trailed 35-20 at the halftime break.
 

The Bears started to battle back during the opening minutes of the second half behind a 5-0 run capped off by a Lisanti three-pointer at the 8:30-mark. After a 6-2 McDaniel run, Lisanti answered again with her second three-pointer to cut the Bears deficit to 41-30 with 5:51 remaining in the third quarter. The Green Terror responded with a layup, before an 8-0 Ursinus run cut the deficit to five with two minutes to play. After a McDaniel basket at the 1:41-mark, closed out the quarter on a 5-0 run to make the score 45-43 McDaniel, at the end of the third quarter.

 
McDaniel bounced back during the opening minutes of the final stanza scoring four consecutive points, before an Irondi layup at the 6:49-mark cut the deficit to four. With the Green Terror leading 49-45, Lisanti connected on a three-pointer to make the deficit one with 6:14 remaining in the contest. Seven straight points from McDaniel increased their lead to 56-48 at the 3:35-mark, before a basket from Irondi halted the Green Terror run. With McDaniel leading 59-50 and two minutes to play, Ursinus would string one more rally to cut their deficit to three behind a jump shot from Irondi with 26 seconds remaining. McDaniel converted on a free-throw to increase their lead to four before a Bears' turnover iced the game resulting in the 62-58 final score.
 
 
Ursinus shot 43.4% (23-of-53) from the field, 31.3% (5-of-16) from three-point range, and 77.8% from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, the Green Terror shot 43.6% (24-of-55) from the field, 36.4% (4-of-11) from deep, and just 52.6% (10-of-19) from the charity stripe. McDaniel hit three of their four successful three-pointers in the opening quarter, while out rebounding Ursinus 35-30.
 
 
The Bears return to action on Wednesday, December 6^th as they travel to Swarthmore College for a Centennial Conference matchup starting at 6 p.m.