COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Behind a strong first half start, the Ursinus College women's basketball team earned their fourth straight victory defeating Eastern University, 62-44, on Tuesday evening from Helfferich Hall.

 
With the victory, Ursinus improves to 6-2 overall while the Eagles open the season with an 0-7 record. Senior forward Chinwe Irondi led the Bears with a game-high 20 points and eight rebounds, marking her fifth game and second straight contest with 20 or more points. Junior Madison Smith recorded her third double-double of the season behind 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Smith added a season best three steals, while sophomore Colleen Blackman added 12 points behind her fourth consecutive game with three or more three-pointers. Blackman currently leads the Centennial Conference with 28 three-pointers this season and three-point field goal percentage of 42.4%.


Ursinus struck first on their opening possession as Smith assisted on a layup to give the Bears an early 2-0 lead. The Eagles responded with a 7-3 run to gain a 7-5 advantage with 5:55 remaining in the opening stanza. Smith, Irondi, and junior Makenna Foder combined for the next six points, while Blackman's first three-pointer closed out the first period with Ursinus leading 16-8. Eastern connected on a three-pointer to open the second quarter, before each team was held without a basket until Smith collected a layup with 5:18 remaining in the half. After an Eagles turnover, Smith recorded an old fashioned three-point play while a steal and fast break layup from Smith extended the Bears lead to 23-11. Foder and Irondi connected on jump shots for the Bears, while a 4-0 run from Eastern closed out the first half with Ursinus leading 27-15.

 
The Eagles battled back within the opening two minutes of the second half as three straight baskets led to a Bears timeout and cut their advantage to 27-21. Out of the Bears timeout, Irondi recorded a block and junior Ava Possenti capitalized on the other end with a fast break layup to extend the Bears lead to eight. Ursinus increased their lead to 18 behind a 10-0 run capped off by a Blackman three-pointer with 3:04 left in the period. Eastern closed out the period on a 7-3 run, but still faced a 42-28 deficit heading into the final stanza. Blackman connected on a pair of triples to open the fourth quarter to extend the Bears advantage 52-33 with 7:15 remaining in the contest. Irondi and Smith collected the next two baskets for Ursinus as the Bears cruised to a 62-44 non-conference victory over the Eagles.
 

Ursinus shot 40% (24-of-60) from the field, 25% (4-of-16) from behind the arc, and 66.7% (10-of-15) at the free-throw line. The Bears held the Eagles to shoot 31.5% (17-of-54) from the floor, 27.8% (5-of-18) from deep, and 62.5% (5-of-8) at the charity stripe.
 
 
The Bears will return to action on Wednesday, December 4th as they open Centennial Conference play by hosting Haverford College at 7:30 p.m. from Helfferich hall.