COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Suffocating defense and another huge night for Lydia Konstanzer combined to power the Ursinus College women's basketball team to a 68-53 victory over McDaniel in a Thursday night Centennial Conference clash at Helfferich Hall.
Konstanzer wrapped up her sixth consecutive double-double with another monster game, piling up 28 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Bears (9-4, 6-2) to their third straight win. The junior forward is averaging 17.6 points and 12.7 boards over her last five games and now stands just ten points shy of 1,000 for her career.
Sophomore Aliyah Stephens had 17 points to hit double figures for the fifth straight outing, and freshman Gabby Downs made her first four shots on the way to a 10-point night off the bench. Junior forward Toni Suler finished with six points, eight rebounds, and a season-high five blocks.
Ursinus was dominant defensively, holding McDaniel (9-5, 4-5) to just 25.8 percent from the floor (17-of-66). Coming off a big win over Muhlenberg, the Green Terror struggled all night and was a paltry 5-for-33 overall in the middle two quarters.
Suler got the Bears going with back-to-back buckets on the team's first two possessions, finishing off nice feeds from sophomore Marisa Morano and Konstanzer. McDaniel briefly tied the game at 6 on Anna Mondoro's second 3-pointer, but Suler's high-low feed to Konstanzer put Ursinus ahead to stay.
Downs came off the bench and made an immediate impact, splashing a long 3-pointer before connecting on a mid-range jumper to put the Bears on top, 21-12, after one.
The hosts went into complete lock-down mode in the second stanza, limiting the Green Terror to a 2-for-17 mark in the frame. In the meantime, Stephens swished a 3-pointer to make it a double-digit game, and a jumper by sophomore Maya Kornfeld stretched the lead to 32-15 at the 2:19 mark. Kornfeld and Konstanzer each nailed a pair of free throws to help the Bears double up McDaniel, 36-18, heading into halftime.
Ursinus continued to control the pace of play in the second half, going up by 24 points (47-23) midway through the third quarter after a 3-pointer by Downs and another bucket from Konstanzer. The lead ballooned to 25 (65-40) after a three-point play by Konstanzer with 3:01 to play, after which the junior star went to the bench for good.
Kornfeld turned in another strong effort at the head of the Ursinus offense, posting five assists to just one turnover.
Mondoro led the Green Terror with 12 points.
The Bears now ready themselves for a massive clash with Johns Hopkins on Saturday. The Blue Jays moved to 7-1 in the CC with a 68-40 rout at Muhlenberg, but a weekend win would send Ursinus into second place.