COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Behind a dominant second half, the Ursinus women's basketball team cruised to a 72-32 victory over Bryn Mawr College on Saturday afternoon at home, outscoring the Owls 41-10 after halftime.
With the win, Ursinus improved to 11-7 overall and 5-3 in Centennial Conference play. Bryn Mawr fell to 5-12 overall and 1-6 in conference action. Senior guard
Ava Possenti led all scorers with 18 points to go along with four rebounds and four steals. With 257 career steals, Possenti is closing in on the Ursinus career record of 275, held by Megan Larkin. Senior
Madison Smith added 12 points and nine rebounds, while first-year
Anna Chimento recorded a career-high 11 rebounds and chipped in nine points.
Bryn Mawr jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the opening two minutes of play behind a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer at the 8:39 mark. Ursinus responded with 10 consecutive points to take a 10-5 advantage, highlighted by layups from Possenti, junior
Colleen Blackman and sophomore
Ruth O'Keeffe. After a 3-pointer by the Owls, the Bears closed the first quarter on a 6-2 run to take a 16-10 lead into the second stanza. Possenti found Smith for a pair of baskets to open the second quarter, and a layup by junior
Emma Afflerbach extended the Bears' lead to 24-10 with 6:59 remaining. Both teams traded baskets over the next four minutes until Bryn Mawr closed the half on a 7-0 run to cut the Ursinus lead to 31-22 at the break.
Ursinus found its footing to open the second half, using a 6-1 run to extend the lead to 37-23 with 6:42 remaining in the third quarter. After a basket by the Owls, the Bears used an 11-0 run to push the advantage to 48-25 with 2:23 left in the period. Chimento highlighted the surge by scoring five points on a pair of layups and a free throw. Ursinus closed the quarter on a 5-2 run to take a 53-28 lead into the final period. The Bears carried the momentum into the fourth quarter, outscoring Bryn Mawr 19-4 to secure the victory. Ursinus scored the first 16 points of the quarter to build a 69-28 lead with 4:40 to play. During the run, Possenti and first-year
Olivia Nardi each connected on 3-pointers as the Bears sealed the home win.
Ursinus shot 40% (28 of 70) from the field, 18.5% (5 of 27) from 3-point range, and 64.7% (11 of 17) from the free throw line. Bryn Mawr shot 20.9% (9 of 43) from the floor, 23.5% (4 of 17) from beyond the arc, and 90.9% (10 of 11) at the line. The Bears held a 51-27 rebounding advantage and scored 33 points off 25 Owls turnovers. Jenny Briggs led Bryn Mawr with 12 points and four rebounds.
The Bears return to action Wednesday, January 28th, when they host Swarthmore at 6 p.m. inside Helfferich Hall.
