COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus Women's Basketball team cruised to a 67-45 win over Bryn Mawr on Thursday night at Helfferich Hall in Centennial Conference action.
 
 
With the win, the Bears improved to 14-9 overall and 10-8 in Centennial Conference action and inched closer to clinching a berth in the Centennial Conference Tournament. Meanwhile, the Owls fell to 2-20 overall and 0-17 in conference action.
 
 
Junior Chinwe Irondi led the Bears with 24 points behind going 12-of-17 from the field and completed a double-double with 10 rebounds. Sophomore Madison Smith also posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds while junior Natalie Mehl added 14 points.
 
 
Mehl got the scoring going with a three-pointer in the opening minute and took a 7-4 advantage at the 5:45-mark following back-to-back baskets. Bryn Mawr hung around in the first quarter as they drew within a point at 9-8 before the Bears scored six straight points to go up 15-8 at the 5:15-mark. Ursinus maintained a two-possession lead for the rest of the first quarter and took a 19-13 advantage into the second quarter. The Bears took command in the second quarter as they used a 14-3 run to go up 33-16 with just over a minute left in the first half before finishing the first 20 minutes up 35-18.
 
 
 
Ursinus worked its advantage out to 39-22 two minutes into the third quarter, but the Owls got eight straight points from Jessica Smith to pull within 39-30 at the 6:30-mark. The Bears stopped the run by using a 9-2 burst to go up 48-32 at the 3:03-mark of the third quarter. Bryn Mawr got within 10 points at 49-39 before the Bears eventually went up 53-41 headed into the fourth quarter. Ursinus dominated the fourth quarter and pulled away by limiting the Owls to just four points after surrendering 23 in the third quarter. The Bears closed the game on a 12-0 run and did not allow an Owl point for the final 7:33 of the contest.  
 
 
The Bears shot 47.4 percent from the field behind going 27-of-57 from the field and just 2-of-14 (14.3%) from three-point range. Ursinus went 64.7 percent (11-of-17) from the free throw line and held a 37-31 rebounding advantage. Meanwhile, the Owls went 34 percent (17-of-50) from the field and just 13.3 percent (2-of-15) from beyond the arc. Bryn Mawr shot 75 percent (9-of-12) from the free throw line and Smith led the team with 20 points.
 
 
The Bears return to action on Saturday, February 10^th as they will host Gettysburg at 1:00 p.m. for senior day ceremonies.