COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's basketball team did its best to make up for an ice-cold start during Saturday's game against McDaniel, but the Bears' second-half efforts came up just shy in a 49-41 defeat.
Sophomore Lydia Konstanzer scored all 13 of her points in the second half – and collected 11 of her game-high 13 rebounds as well – in an attempt to put Ursinus on her back, but the Green Terror managed to hang on by the skin of its teeth.
Freshman Aliyah Stephens paired ten points with a career-high nine rebounds to join Konstanzer in double figures, but the duo was just 8 for 29 from the field, part of a 27.6-percent overall effort for the Bears (16 for 58).
Ursinus (9-8, 6-6) locked down McDaniel to the tune of 29.6 percent from the floor (16 for 54), but the home team was unable to overcome a dismal start. After Konstanzer picked up her second foul just over three minutes into the game, the Bears' offense went into a deep freeze.
Ursinus was 1 for 15 from the field in the first quarter, after which it trailed by a 10-3 count. A 3-pointer by junior Brielle Clarke cut the margin to 13-8 with 7:39 to go in the second stanza, but McDaniel (7-9, 5-6) rattled off the next seven points to go up by double digits. Stephens kept the Bears within striking distance at 27-17 by scoring the team's final seven points of the half.
Despite holding McDaniel scoreless for the final six minutes of the third quarter, Ursinus was only able to score four points during that stretch, and still trailed 35-27 heading into the final frame. Melanie Yeomans and Jasmine Smith sandwiched 3-pointers around a jumper by freshman Maya Kornfeld to push the Green Terror out to a 41-29 advantage with 8:38 to go.
Konstanzer had one last rally in her, scoring six points during a run of seven unanswered that pulled the Bears within 41-36, and her old-fashioned three-point play made it a 45-41 game with 1:07 remaining. Ursinus played a stout defensive possession, but McDaniel grabbed an offensive rebound with 38 seconds left and made four free throws to secure the win.
Yeomans finished with a game-high 15 points for the Green Terror, who committed only five turnovers and held a 10-4 edge in second-chance points.
Kornfeld made four of her seven shots and scored nine points before fouling out in the fourth quarter. In addition to her near double-double, Stephens handed out four assists and blocked three shots for Ursinus, which grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and held a 44-39 advantage on the glass.
Konstanzer's double-double was her sixth of the year and 15th of her career.
The women's basketball team heads to Muhlenberg for a CC date on Tuesday, January 23.