COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's basketball team held a first quarter led, but unfortunately were defeated by No. 10 Johns Hopkins on Saturday afternoon, 58-43.
 

Junior Chinwe Irondi led the Bears with a game-high 14 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore Madison Smith added eight points and six rebounds. Junior Charlotte DiLello made an impact off the bench finishing ranked second on the team with seven rebounds in 10 minutes of action.

 
On each team's opening possession, they capitalized from offensive rebounds and easy layups as the score was tied at two a piece with 8:39 remaining in the opening quarter. With the score tied at 4-4, senior Natalie Mehl banked in a deep three-pointer as the shot clock was expiring extending the Bears lead to 7-4 at the 6:23-mark. After each team traded shots over the middle of the period, sophomore guard Ava Possenti connected on a mid-range jump shot to give Ursinus an 11-7 lead with 2:59 remaining in the opening period. The Blue Jays closed the period on a 3-0 run, but the Bears held an 11-10 advantage at the end of the first period.

 
After a basket from each team to open the period, the Blue Jays defense continued to play while their offense used a 16-0 run to recapture a 28-13 lead with 3:51 remaining in the half. Ursinus responded with a basket from Irondi at the 2:31-mark, but the Blue Jays closed out the first half on a 7-0 run and held a 35-15 lead at the halftime break.

 
The Bears answered during the start of the second half as Smith scored the opening four points of the quarter leading to a Blue Jays timeout at the 7:50-mark. After holding the Blue Jays scoreless for the opening two minutes, Johns Hopkins' Greta Miller collected a layup to extend the Blue Jays lead back to 18 at the 7:24-mark. Over the next two minutes, Johns Hopkins extended their lead to 22 behind a 6-2 run capped off by a jump shot from Macie Feldman leading to an Ursinus timeout. Over the next two possessions, Irondi and Smith combined to go 4-of-4 from the free throw line, while the Blue Jays answered each time with jump shots to keep the deficit at 22. Johns Hopkins closed out the third period on a 5-2 run to increase lead to 25 as the game entered the final stanza.

 
Johns Hopkins opened the final period with a pair of free throws, before a free-throw from senior Sarah DiLello, and a three-pointer from Mehl sparked a 4-2 Bears run. After baskets from each team, Irondi tallied four consecutive points to make the score 58-37 with 4:31 remaining in the contest. It sparked a 10-1 Ursinus run, as first-year Colleen Blackman connected on four straight free throws, while senior Maria D'Aulerio brought the Bears deficit down to 15 with 1:45 remaining in the period. The Blue Jays lead proved to be too large as Johns Hopkins earned a 58-43 road victory.
 
 
Ursinus shot 26.8% (15-of-56) from the field, 11.1% (2-of-18) from three-point range, and 73.3% (11-of-15) at the free throw line. Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins shot 40.3% (25-of-62) from the field, 21.1% (4-of-19) from deep, and 50% (4-of-8) from the charity stripe. For the Blue Jays, Great Miller finished with a team-high 13 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists. Macie Feldman and Michaela O'Neil each added 11 points apiece while Feldman tallied 12 rebounds and a team-high six assists.

 
The Bears return to action on Wednesday, January 31^st as they host Franklin & Marshall College at 8 p.m. from Helfferich Hall.