COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's basketball team fought hard, overcoming a fourth-quarter deficit, and forcing two overtime periods as they fell 77-71 to Muhlenberg in extra time.
 


With the loss, the Bears fell to 9-15 overall and 6-13 in Centennial Conference action, meanwhile the Mules improved to 12-12 on the season and 11-8 in conference play.


 
Junior guard Alison Lisanti led the way for Ursinus finishing with a new career-high 27 points behind shooting seven-of-eleven from three-point range while shooting 66.7% from the field. Sophomore Chinwe Irondi continued to shine in her second season recording 21 points and eight rebounds, while junior Natalie Mehl added eight points and five rebounds.


 
The Bears scored the first points off the game behind two free throws from Mehl, but the Mules quickly answered with a 6-2 run holding a two-point lead at the 5:33-mark of the first period. Lisanti started to heat up connecting on back-to-back shots to put Ursinus ahead 9-8 with 4:16 remaining in the first period. She drilled her first three-pointer of the contest before knocking down a jump shot to give Ursinus a one-point advantage. After a layup from first-year Madison Smith, Muhlenberg closed out the first period with an 8-2 run and held a 16-13 advantage after the first stanza.


 
Ursinus battled back in the opening minutes of the second quarter with a 6-3 run to tie the game at 19 apiece with 6:24 remaining in the half. Each team would go scoreless over the next two minutes of play until back-to-back layups from Irondi gave the Bears a four-point cushion at the 3:31-mark. Both teams traded baskets of the final minutes of the first half, but back-to-back three-pointers for Lisanti gave Ursinus a 29-25 lead at intermission.
 


The Mules quickly responded in the second half scoring eight straight points over the first three minutes to play to regain a 33-29 lead at the 6:26-mark. Lisanti again answered for Ursinus with five straight points for the Bears to regain a one-point edge at the halfway mark of the period. After a Mehl layup extended the Bears lead to three, Muhlenberg stormed back with a 12-2 run over the final four minutes of the quarter and controlled a 45-38 lead at the end of the third quarter.


 
Ursinus opened the fourth quarter with four straight points from Irondi to cut their deficit to three at the 8:35-mark. After a Muhlenberg basket extended the lead to five, the Bears received two more good free throws and a three-pointer from Lisanti at the 7:15-mark to tie the contest at 47 apiece. The Bears would regain the lead on the ensuing possession as Mehl connected on a jump shot, but a three-pointer from Muhlenberg's Emily Unger gave the visitors a one-point edge with 5:44 remaining in the period. Muhlenberg stretched their lead to two behind Unger going one-of-two from the charity stripe, but the Bears tied the game at 51 apiece with a layup from Irondi at the 4:06-mark. The Mules connected on a layup on the ensuing possession before each team would go scoreless over the next three minutes. With under ten seconds remaining and the Bears down two, Mehl's game-winning three-point attempt was offline, but an offensive rebound from Irondi and a quick tied the game at 53 a piece heading into overtime.  


 
In the first overtime period, Muhlenberg raced out to a nine-point advantage behind an 11-2 run over the first four minutes. Lisanti and the Bears enlightened the Helfferich Hall crowd with a three-pointer with 1:14 to play to cut the deficit to six. On the defensive end, Lisanti collected a steal and found Irondi on the fast break for a layup to cut the deficit to four with 43 seconds remaining. After two free throws from the Mules found the back of the net, Smith found junior Sarah DiLello open in the corner for a wide open three-pointer to cut the deficit to three. Leading 66-63, Muhlenberg hit one-of-two free throw attempts with 22 seconds remaining to extend their lead to four. After a Bears timeout, Irondi was fouled and hit her first free throw to make the deficit three with 11 seconds to play. Irondi purposely missed the second free throw and Smith hauled in the offensive rebounds before finding Lisanti in front of the Bears bench for the game tying three-pointer. With under four seconds remaining, Muhlenberg recorded an open look under the rim, but the opportunity rolled out to force double overtime. In the final stanza with the score tied 71 a piece and under a minute remaining, Muhlenberg would close out the contest hitting six straight free throws from the charity stripe to ice the game.


 
The Bears shot 38.8% (26-of-67) from the floor, 33.3% (8-of-24) from three-point range, and78.6% (11-of-14) from the charity stripe. The Mules shot 36.6% (26-of-71) from the field and 31% (9-of-29) from three-point range. Muhlenberg held a 50-42 edge in rebounds while the Bears scored 15 points off 14 Muhlenberg turnovers. Margaux Eripret led the way for Muhlenberg finishing with 21 points and 10 rebounds while Emily Vaughn finished with a team-high 22 points (4-of-8 3PT) and four assists.
 


The Bears will return to action on Saturday as they host Johns Hopkins for their 2023 season finale while celebrating Senior Day from Helfferich Hall.