CARLISLE, Pa. – A huge fourth quarter from Dickinson College proved to be the difference as the Ursinus College women's basketball team lost 83-65 to the Red Devils on Saturday afternoon from the Kline Center.
 

With the loss, Ursinus falls to 14-11 overall and finishes 10-10 in Centennial Conference action. Meanwhile, the Red Devils improved to 18-7 on the season and finish as the No. 3 seed for the playoffs. Dickinson will host Swarthmore College for the first round of CC tournament, while the No. 5 seed Bears will travel to Washington College.
 

Junior forward Chinwe Irondi paced the Bears offense with 21 points and eight rebounds finishing 9-of-15 from the floor. Senior Natalie Mehl added 17 points behind five three-pointers, while sophomore Madison Smith reached double-digits with 12 points and five rebounds.
 

Each defense held the opposing offenses scoreless for nearly the first two minutes of play until Irondi netted the opening basket at the 8:15-mark. After a turnover from the Red Devils on the ensuing possession, senior Sarah DiLelllo banked home a three-pointer to give the Bears a 5-0 lead. The Bears defense forced their four consecutive turnovers to open the game leading to a Dickinson timeout at the 7:16-mark. The Red Devils responded out the timeout using a 10-3 run to capture a 10-8 lead with 4:19 remaining in the opening stanza. The Bears bounced back with six consecutive points from Irondi and Smith to regain a 14-10 advantage at the 2:51-mark. Sophomore Ava Possenti connected on one of her two free throw attempts, while Dickinson's Clair Marion collected a three-pointer to close out the opening quarter with Ursinus leading 15-13.
 

The Red Devils opened the second period with the first basket, but DiLello responded with her second three-pointer to give Ursinus an 18-15 lead at the 9:15-mark. Dickinson collected a layup on the ensuing possession, but Mehl responded with a three-pointer at the top of the key to stretch the Bears lead to four. With seven minutes remaining in the half, Dickinson responded with a 7-0 run to recapture a 24-21 lead after a three-pointer and layup from Clare Cronley. The Bears bounced back with a three-pointer from Mehl and layup from Irondi to regain a 26-24 advantage with 5:08 remaining in the half. Sophomore Madison Smith scored the final five points of the half for the Bears, but a 10-5 run from the Red Devils gave them a 34-31 lead at halftime. Smith's final layup tied the score at 31 apiece, but a buzzer beating three-pointer from Marion gave Dickinson a three-point advantage at the break.
 

Ursinus quickly tied the contest to open the third period as Mehl corralled an offensive rebound before connecting on a three-pointer at the 9:11-mark. After each team traded shots, Mehl connected on back-to-back three-pointers to extend the Bears lead to 42-38 with 6:57 remaining in the quarter. The Bears would stretch their lead to as much as five points in the quarter, but a 6-2 run from the Red Devils cut the score to 54-53 with one minute remaining in the period. On the Bears final possession of the quarter, DiLello connected on a pull up jump shot to give Ursinus a 56-53 advantage heading into the final stanza. Dickinson opened on a 13-4 run in the fourth quarter and never looked back outscoring Ursinus 30-9 in the quarter to earn the 83-65 victory.  
 

The Bears will enter the Centennial Conference playoffs as the No. 5 seed and will travel to Chestertown, Maryland for a matchup against Washington College.