COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – A second half surge powered the Ursinus College women's basketball team to a 59-53 victory over Dickinson College on Saturday afternoon from Helfferich Hall.

 
With the victory, Ursinus improves to 13-7 overall and 7-3 in Centennial Conference. Meanwhile, the Red Devils fall to 10-10 on the season and 4-5 in conference play. For the Bears, the victory marks their first over the Red Devils since earning a 77-61 decision in January of 2019.

 
Sophomore guard Colleen Blackman led the Bears offense with 16 points and four rebounds, while connecting on a pair of three-pointers. Junior guard Ava Possenti added 15 points and three steals, while senior forward Chinwe Irondi collected nine points and tied a career high with 20 rebounds. It marks the most rebounds in a game for Irondi since registering 20 rebounds in a Bears victory over Muhlenberg in February of 2022.

 
Blackman connected on the opening basket of the contest at the 9:28-mark, before Dickinson rallied off six straight points and held a four-point lead with 7:40 remaining in the quarter. Next, Blackman recorded a layup and Possenti knocked down a three-pointer, but a three and back-to-back jumpers increased the Red Devils lead to 13-7. Dickinson extended their lead to 15-7, before Possenti tallied five straight points for the Bears to cut the deficit to three at the 2:52-mark. The Red Devils closed out the period on a 7-3 run, capped off by a buzzer beating three-pointer to end the quarter leading 22-15.

 
Ursinus scored the first three points of the second stanza as the Bears defense held Dickinson scoreless for nearly the first four minutes of the quarter. After a Red Devils basket, junior Makenna Foder collected a layup to cut the Bears deficit to 24-20 with 4:47 remaining in the first half. Dickinson answered with a 5-2 run and held a 29-22 advantage, before Ursinus closed out the with seven straight points to enter halftime tied at 29. During the Bears run, senior Charlotte DiLello netted four points while sophomore Erin Glanz connected on a shot from beyond the arc. Both of DiLello's layups came from offensive rebounds, before using a reverse layup to score.
 

Ursinus stretched their lead to four to open the third period as Possenti and Irondi each collected a layup to give Ursinus a 33-29 advantage. The Bears increased their lead to six until a three-pointer from the Red Devils made the score 37-34 with 4:18 remaining in the quarter. Behind an 8-3 run, Ursinus increased their advantage to 45-37 as Irondi, DiLello, Possenti, and Blackman each recorded a score. With under a minute remaining in the quarter, Dickinson tallied a layup, but a three-pointer closed out the quarter with Ursinus lead 48-39.
 
 
Foder connected on a jump shot to open the final stanza increasing the Bears lead to their largest of the game at 50-39. Dickinson battled back with a 9-3 run to cut their deficit to 53-48 with 4:42 remaining in the contest. The Red Devils added a 5-0 run capitalizing off a pair of Ursinus turnovers to tie the contest at 53 apiece with 2:17 to play in the final stanza.  With 43-seconds remaining and the shot clock winding down, Blackman drove towards the paint before lifting over her defender for the go ahead jump shot giving Ursinus a 55-53 lead. The Bears defense forced a turnover and held Dickinson off the board for the remainder of the contest, while going 4-of-4 at the free throw line to earn a 59-53 victory.
 

Ursinus shot 41.5% (22-of-53) from the field, 25% (5-of-20) from three-point range, and 55.6% (10-of-18) at the free throw line. Meanwhile, the Red Devils were held to shoot 43.4% (23-of-53) from the floor, 40% (6-of-15) from beyond the arc, and 25% (1-of-4) at the charity stripe. The Bears held a 12-6 edge in second chance points, and a 30-24 advantage with points in the paint.

 
The Bears return to action on Wednesday, February 5th as they host Bryn Mawr College for a Centennial Conference matchup starting at 6 p.m.