BALTIMORE, MD. – The Ursinus College women's basketball team battled throughout, but eventually fell, 66-60, against No. 20 Johns Hopkins University on Saturday afternoon from Goldfarb Gymnasium.
 

With the loss, Ursinus currently sits at 14-8 overall, 8-4 in Centennial Conference action, and rank third in the conference standings. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays improved to 18-3 on the season, 10-1 in conference play, and sit atop the Centennial rankings. Senior Chinwe Irondi paced the Bears offense with 19 points and eight rebounds. Junior Ava Possenti finished two points shy of her career-high, tallying 19 points (3-of-5 3PT), three rebounds, and four steals. Classmate Madison Smith added 11 points, six rebounds, and tied for the team lead with four assists.

 
The Blue Jays opened the contest by connecting on each of their first two shots to grab a 5-0 advantage at the 9:01-mark. Ursinus broke through at the 6:35-mark as Possenti secured the Bears opening basket, but a 7-2 run from Johns Hopkins increased their lead to 12-4 with 3:14 remaining in the first quarter. The Bears answered with back-to-back Possenti three-pointers to make the score 12-10 with under two minutes remaining. A 6-2 run from Johns Hopkins closed out the first stanza with the Blue Jays leading 18-12. First-year Ruth O'Keeffe opened the second period with a steal leading to an Ursinus layup from Irondi to cut the Bears deficit to 18-14. Johns Hopkins answered with a 7-2 run extending their advantage to 25-16 with 6:53 remaining in the half. Each team traded baskets, until a 7-4 run from the Bears cut the Blue Jays lead to 36-29 at the halftime break. The Bears' run started with a three-pointer from sophomore Colleen Blackman, before Smith converted on an old fashioned three-point play with three seconds remaining in the first half.
 
 
The Bears started to battle back top open the third stanza as Possenti tallied a layup and a pair of free throws from Irondi made the score 38-33 with 6:20 left in the period. Next, Hopkins converted on a three-pointer, but the Bears quickly bounced back with a three-pointer of their own from Blackman. During the play, Ursinus broke through the press defense, while Smith drove towards the paint, and kicked out a pass to Blackman on the wing for an open three-pointer. The Bears cut their deficit to three at the 5:14-mark, but a 10-2 run from the Blue Jays increased their lead to 51-40 with 2:49 remaining in the third quarter. Ursinus closed out the quarter on a 7-4 run to cut their deficit to 55-47 with one quarter to play. Sophomore Erin Glanz connected on a three-pointer, while layups from Irondi and Smith highlighted the Bears run. In the final quarter each team traded baskets as the Bears cut their deficit to as low as five with 1:28-remaining in the contest, but the Blue Jays knocked down their free throw attempts en route to a 66-60 victory.
 
 
Ursinus shot 45.1% (23-of-51) from the floor, 42.9% (6-of-14) from three-point range, and 88.9% (8-of-9) at the charity stripe. Johns Hopkins shot 39.3% (24-of-61) from the field, 43.8% (7-of-16) from deep, and 78.6% (11-of-14) at the free throw line. The Bears held a 34-30 lead with points in the paint, while the Blue Jays forced a total of 20 turnovers for Ursinus. Johns Hopkins' Michaela O'Neil finished with a game-high 23 points, four rebounds, and two assists.
 

The Bears return to action on Saturday, February 15th as they host Swarthmore College at 1 p.m. and will celebrate Senior Day.