COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus women's basketball team battled throughout but eventually fell, 84-72, to No. 4 Johns Hopkins University on Saturday inside Helfferich Hall.
 
With the loss, Ursinus dropped to 13-9 overall and 7-5 in Centennial Conference play. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays remained perfect at 20-0 overall and 11-0 in conference action.

 
The contest was highlighted by senior guard Ava Possenti tallying seven steals to break the Ursinus program record of 275, previously set by Megan Larkin in 1998. Possenti recorded her 109th steal of the season, which ranks third in Division III and is six shy of the single-season record of 115 that she set last year. On the offensive end, Possenti finished with 17 points and five rebounds, while senior Madison Smith tallied a game-high 26 points and six rebounds. Sophomore Delaney McCaffery added 11 points off the bench for the Bears.
 
Johns Hopkins connected on its opening shot of the contest before Smith tied the game at two by hauling in an offensive rebound and converting a putback attempt. The Blue Jays scored seven straight points to take a 9-2 lead before junior Erin Glanz knocked down a 3-pointer at the 4:48 mark. Johns Hopkins used an 8-5 run to capture a 17-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

 
The Blue Jays stretched their lead to 10 after converting a 3-point play to open the second quarter. However, a 10-2 Ursinus run cut the deficit to 22-20 with 6:45 remaining in the first half. Smith started the run with a layup in the paint, while a pair of 3-pointers from Possenti brought the Bears back within striking distance. Both teams traded baskets over the next two minutes until a triple by McCaffery cut the deficit to 30-27 with 4:15 remaining. Johns Hopkins closed the first half on an 11-7 run to take a 41-34 lead into halftime.
 

The Blue Jays opened the second half with consecutive baskets, but five straight points from Smith brought the Ursinus deficit to six at the 7:56 mark. Ursinus continued to answer Johns Hopkins with baskets of its own, and a 3-pointer from Smith closed the quarter with the Bears trailing 58-50. Hopkins opened the final stanza on a 7-2 run to extend its lead to 65-53, but layups by Smith and first-year Anna Chimento made the score 69-59 with 5:35 remaining. The Bears cut the deficit to 10 on multiple occasions but were unable to overcome it, eventually falling by an 84-72 score.
 
 
Ursinus shot 46.3% (25 of 54) from the field, 40.7% (11 of 27) from 3-point range, and 68.8% (11 of 16) at the free-throw line. Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins shot 44.4% (28 of 63) from the floor, 13.3% (2 of 15) from beyond the arc, and 78.8% (26 of 33) at the charity stripe. The Blue Jays held a 42-25 advantage in rebounds, while Ursinus scored 14 points off 16 Johns Hopkins turnovers. Kendall Dunham led the visitors with a team-high 20 points and four rebounds.

 
The Bears will return to action Saturday, February 14th, as they travel to Swarthmore College for a Centennial Conference matchup beginning at 1 p.m.