LANCASTER, Pa. – Fast starts and lights-out shooting to begin each half gave the Ursinus College women's basketball team just enough of a cushion to withstand second- and fourth-quarter charges by host Franklin & Marshall in a 71-63 Centennial Conference victory this evening. The Bears never trailed and shot a combined 17-of-25 (68.0 percent) in the first and third quarters in winning their fourth straight meeting with the Diplomats.
Ursinus (2-3, 2-0) came out red-hot against a Franklin & Marshall (0-6, 0-2) squad that came in allowing opponents to shoot 43.2 percent from the field, the worst mark in the conference. The Bears connected on seven of their first ten field-goal attempts, senior guard Alyssa Polimeni (Berkeley Heights, N.J./Governor Livingston Regional) leading the barrage with a 3-for-3 performance in the first quarter and picking up where she left off a week earlier, when she produced a career-high 21 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists in a 67-56 win over Swarthmore. The senior wasted little time going on triple-double alert again, racking up eight points, four boards, and three assists in the first quarter alone to stake Ursinus to a 19-11 advantage.
Polimeni hit two free throws to open the second quarter, giving her double-digit points and opening up a double-digit discrepancy. But the Diplomats gradually climbed back in, holding the Bears to just 3-of-19 from the field during the period. Franklin & Marshall finished the frame on a 10-3 spurt, punctuated by back-to-back jumpers from freshman guard Haley Pilone to send the sides to the locker rooms knotted at 30.
The visitors turned the tide for good early in the third. Senior forward Jessica Porada (Morristown, N.J./Morris Catholic) scored on back-to-back possessions to break open a 32-all stalemate, setting the course for an 18-5 run that left the Diplomats chasing until the final whistle. Ursinus capped the game-turning surge with seven consecutive points, featuring a 3-pointer by Polimeni, a layup by Porada, and a jumper from senior forward Elana Roadcloud (Roslyn, Pa./Springside School) that made it 50-37 at the 2:05 mark of the period.
A basket by junior guard Libby Lannon (Aston, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) stretched the lead to 14 (61-47) with just 4:42 remaining, but Franklin & Marshall refused to go quietly. The Diplomats got as close as 66-62 with 37 ticks to play, but Polimeni and Roadcloud combined for five free throws in the waning moments to keep the Bears in the driver's seat.
Pilone rolled up a game-high 20 points for Franklin & Marshall, which got 14 points from sophomore guard Anajha Burnett and a double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds) out of sophomore forward Erica Brown.
Polimeni fell just shy of a triple-double for the second time in as many games, finishing with 19 points, a career-high-tying nine rebounds, and seven assists while playing all 40 minutes; she was 5-for-7 from the field (with a pair of threes) and 7-of-10 at the line. Porada matched her with a season-best 19 points, and Roadcloud gobbled up a career-high 13 rebounds with seven markers and a pair of rejections. Ursinus controlled the glass, 47-32, to offset a 17-9 disadvantage in the turnover department.