BRYN MAWR, Pa. – Despite a difficult shooting night, the Ursinus College women's basketball team cranked up the pressure defensively and gradually pulled away from Bryn Mawr for a 61-41 Centennial Conference triumph.
The winless Owls shot a higher percentage from the field than the Bears, but Ursinus forced the home side into 29 turnovers and converted them into 28 points.
Sophomore Lydia Konstanzer picked up her fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Bears (9-7, 6-5), who moved back over .500 in CC play and remained unbeaten all-time against Bryn Mawr. Freshman Aliyah Stephens added nine points, and fellow rookie Marisa Morano paired seven points with a whopping seven steals off the bench.
Ursinus scored the game's first six points – four of them from Stephens – and led by as many as nine points in the first quarter, but the plucky Owls (0-15, 0-12) used a brief run to get as close as 22-19 midway through the second stanza.
The Bears righted the ship and assumed a 15-point advantage (40-25) on a triple by senior Rachel Guy with 6:38 to play in the third; the lead never dipped below 12 the rest of the way.
Konstanzer was 6 for 11 from the field for Ursinus, which shot 32.0 percent for the night (24 for 75) and made just 3 of their 18 attempts from 3-point range. But the Bears snared 31 of their own misses, helping them own a 53-33 advantage on the backboards and a 16-4 edge in second-chance markers. Konstanzer had seven offensive caroms herself, and all five of senior Liana Weishaar's rebounds were of the offensive variety.
Freshman Maya Kornfeld and junior Kaci McNeave combined for nine assists with just two turnovers; Kornfeld stuffed the sheet with six points, five rebounds, and four assists and McNeave dished out a season-best five.
Ursinus received 23 points from its bench. That tally included six from freshman Sydney Fail and four apiece from Weishaar and junior Brielle Clarke, who also grabbed five boards.
Halena Martin had 14 points to lead Bryn Mawr, which shot 37.0 percent but was undone by a deluge of turnovers.
The women's basketball team returns home to face McDaniel on Saturday.