COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Behind a huge third quarter run, the Ursinus College women's basketball team defeated McDaniel College 57-44 on Saturday afternoon from Helfferich Hall.
With the victory, Ursinus improves to 10-6 overall and 6-5 in conference play while holding onto the fourth seed in the Centennial Conference standings. Meanwhile, McDaniel falls to 10-6 overall and 5-6 in conference action and currently sits in a tie for fifth place in the conference standings.
Junior forward
Chinwe Irondi paced the Bears offense recording her seventh double-double of the season behind 26 points and 13 rebounds. Irondi tallied eight offensive rebounds while shooting 10-of-17 from the field and collecting two assists. Senior guard
Natalie Mehl added 14 points including connecting on two of her six three-point attempts. Meanwhile on the defensive end, sophomore
Ava Possenti finished with a game-high four steals with senior
Kelly Grant added three steals and six assists.
Ursinus added the first points of the contest as Grant hauled in an offensive rebound before sophomore
Madison Smith added a layup to give Ursinus a 2-0 lead at the 9:18-mark. The Green Terror quickly responded with a three-pointer to gain a 3-2 edge, before a basket from Possenti gave Ursinus a 4-3 edge with 7:34 remaining in the period. The Bears used a 7-4 run to go ahead 11-8 before McDaniel scored the final five points of the period and held a 13-11 advantage after the first quarter.
During the opening possession of the second stanza, Smith assisted on a pass to Irondi to tie the game, but McDaniel added a layup of their own on their next possession to go ahead 15-13 at the 9:02-mark. Each team traded baskets over the next two minutes of play, until Mehl connected on a three-pointer to give Ursinus a 22-19 lead with 4:29 remaining in the first half. During the play, Irondi set a screen on Mehl's defender to give her the space needed to convert the triple. The Bears offense continued to find the open opportunity as on the fast-break, first-year
Emma Afflerbach dished a sweet pass to a cutting Possenti for an easy layup to give Ursinus a 24-19 advantage. The Green Terror responded with the final two baskets of the half to tie the game at 24 apiece at halftime.
Irondi opened the third period by collecting the first six points for the Bears, but the Green Terror answered each deficit with a basket of their own to tie the contest at 28 apiece at the 7:20-mark. The Bears created some separation between the two teams as a 9-0 run over the span of two minutes extended the Bears lead to 37-28 with 5:03 remaining in the quarter. The Bears defense sparked the run as Possenti, Irondi, and Grant combined for four steals to give Ursinus the nine-point advantage. After back-to-back baskets from the Green Terror, Ursinus used an 8-1 run and held a 45-33 lead. Leading by six with 2:54 to play, senior
Alison Lisanti connected on a pair of three-pointers to stretch the Bears lead to double digits. The Bears defense held McDaniel scoreless for the final three minutes of play, while a free throw from Irondi gave Ursinus a 46-33 advantage at the end of the third quarter. In the final stanza, each team opened the quarter by trading free-throw attempts until a layup from Mehl at the 9:08-mark. McDaniel brought the deficit to 11, but could never overcome the double-digit lead as Ursinus answered each opportunity in route to the 57-44 victory.
Ursinus shot 40% (22-of-55) from the field, 30.8% (4-of-13) from three-point range, and 60% (9-of-15) at the charity stripe. The Green Terror shot 35.7% (15-of-42) from the field, 40% (4-of-10) from deep, and 62.5% (10-of-16) from the free-throw line. The Bears held a 39-26 advantage in rebounds while outscoring McDaniel 30-16 in the paint. McDaniel's Elaina Beckett led the Green Terror with 10 points and nine rebounds, while Teya McConnaha added seven points and four rebounds.
The Bears return to action on Tuesday, January 23
rd as they travel to Allentown, Pennsylvania for a conference matchup against Muhlenberg College at 7:30 p.m.
