COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's basketball team nearly climbed out of a 12-point second-half hole, but back-to-back triples and clutch free-throw shooting kept visiting Cabrini on target for a 62-54 victory in non-conference action tonight. The Bears made a single-game school record 95.5 percent of their foul shots (21-of-22), but saw their four-game winning streak come to an end.
Senior guard Alyssa Polimeni (Berkeley Heights, N.J.), the Centennial Conference leader in free throws made and attempted, went 9 for 10 from the stripe – her fifth game this season with double-digit free-throw attempts – en route to a team-high 15 points for Ursinus (4-4). She grabbed seven rebounds and handed out six assists, moving into fourth on the school's all-time list (269); Polimeni also had three steals. Sophomore guard Rachel Guy (Chadds Ford, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) made all six of her free throws and scored 12 points, and senior forward Elana Roadcloud (Roslyn, Pa./Springside School) crashed the boards for 13 rebounds, matching her career high for the third time in four contests and taking over the conference lead in the process at 9.9 per game.
Senior guard Meghan Martin scored nine of her game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter for Cabrini (4-4), going a perfect 6-for-6 from the line to keep the Bears at arm's length. All 10 Cavaliers who entered the contest got on the scoreboard, with junior forward Renee Oliver (nine rebounds) and senior guard Dana Peterson finishing with nine points apiece.
After leading for much of the early going and holding a 16-13 advantage after one quarter, the second stanza was not kind to the Bears. Cabrini scored the frame's first eight points, holding Ursinus scoreless until the 3:49 mark, when junior guard Olivia Kane (Springfield, Pa./Springfield (Delco) knocked down a running jumper.
Cabrini closed the half on a 7-2 run and led 29-22 at the break before junior guard Tayler Holmes started the third quarter with a 3-pointer and a long jumper to push the margin to 12. It stayed there until Ursinus capped the period with eight unanswered points, the last on a jumper by Guy, to get within 44-40 with one quarter to play. The Cavaliers still led by four when Peterson and Martin nailed back-to-back triples to open up a double-digit spread (54-44) with 3:19 left; the Bears sliced it back to four with 43 ticks to play, but Martin and Holmes combined to make all eight of their foul shots in the final minute.
Ursinus was 12-for-12 from the line in the third quarter and an unblemished 16-for-16 after halftime. Senior forward Jessica Porada (Morristown, N.J./Morris Catholic) registered eight points - her first outing this season with less than ten - and senior forward Caroline Shimrock (Lansdale, Pa./Gwynedd-Mercy Academy) made all three of her shots, including the Bears' lone 3-pointer, to chip in seven.
Cabrini dominated the paint (30-16) and bench points (27-13). The Cavaliers shot 36.7 percent from the field (22-of-60), but a 5-for-11 performance from deep helped turn the tide in their favor. Ursinus went just 1-for-7 from beyond the arc and finished at 34.8 percent (16-for-46) from the floor.
Ursinus is back inside Helfferich Hall on Saturday, December 12, against Lancaster Bible College.