WESTMINSTER, MD. – The Ursinus College women's basketball team were unable to overcome an early first half deficit falling to McDaniel College, 73-60, on Saturday afternoon from the Gill Center.
 

With the defeat, Ursinus falls to 7-3 overall and 1-1 in Centennial Conference action, while the Green Terror improved to 6-2 on the season and 1-1 in conference play.

 
Senior Chinwe Irondi paced the Bears offense with her fourth straight 20-plus point performance recording a game-high 25 points, eight rebounds, and two steals. With the performance, Irondi continues to soar through the Ursinus Women's Basketball record books, she currently sits in fourth place all-time with 1,495 career points and ranks six points shy of Mary Kate Daley mark of 1,501 points. Junior forward Madison Smith added 15 points for Ursinus, while classmate Ava Possenti tallied a game-high four steals and four assists.

 
McDaniel jumped out to an early 7-0 lead after connecting on each of their first three scoring attempts, but five straight points from Ursinus cut the Bears deficit to 7-5 at the 7:01-mark. Each team traded baskets, until a 9-5 run from the Green Terror extended their advantage to 19-12 with 1:23 remaining in the opening period. Smith closed out the quarter by knocking down a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 19-14 at the end of the first stanza. First-year Ruth O'Keeffe and Smith added baskets to open the second quarter, but Ursinus still trailed by five points with 6:56 remaining in the opening half. Each defense stepped up over the next three minutes of play as the only scores came off a McDaniel three-pointer and a pair of free throws from Smith. With Ursinus trialing 26-20 and 3:58 remaining in the first half, both teams traded baskets over the remainder of the period, but the Bears still faced a 31-25 halftime deficit.

 
After the halftime adjustments, Ursinus cut their deficit to two as Irondi connected on back-to-back layups to make the score 31-29 at the 8:23-mark. Consecutive three-pointers and layups from the Green Terror extended their advantage to nine, until a basket from Irondi with 3:55 left in the quarter. McDaniel increased their lead to 12 behind an 8-3 run and held a 49-37 lead with 28 seconds remaining in the period. On the Bears final possession of the stanza, senior Charlotte DiLello tallied an offensive rebound and a reverse layup to close the Bears deficit to 10 heading into the final quarter.
 

Ursinus collected the opening tally in the fourth period as Smith found Irondi for a layup within the paint. With 8:58 remaining in the period, McDaniel connected on a three-pointer, but Ursinus quickly responded with a triple from sophomore Colleen Blackman to bring the Bears deficit to 54-44. The Green Terror increased their lead to 17 over the next three minutes of play as they recorded a trio of three-pointers during a 9-2 run. Irondi tallied nine straight points for the Bears during the final stanza, but the Green Terror lead proved to be too large ending in a 73-60 victory for McDaniel.
 
 
Ursinus shot 40% (20-of-50) from the floor, 14.3% (2-of-14) from beyond the arc, and 72% (18-of-25) at the free-throw line. Meanwhile, the Green Terror shot 53.6% (30-of-56) from the field, a sizzling 52.9% (9-of-17) from deep, and 50% (4-of-8) at the charity stripe. McDaniel held a 32-30 advantage in rebounds and collected 18 points of a total of 19 Ursinus turnovers.
 

The Bears will enjoy the holiday break before returning to action on Monday, December 30th for a road contest against Elizabethtown College at 6 p.m.