Women's Basketball Storms Back to Topple Terror

Women's Basketball Storms Back to Topple Terror

WESTMINSTER, Md. – Trailing by double digits in the third quarter and staring an extended losing streak in the face, the Ursinus College women's basketball team put together a dominant second half and roared back from a 61-51 Centennial Conference victory at McDaniel.

Lydia Konstanzer was a relentless force as the Bears (6-6, 5-2) scored the final 11 points of the game to snap a three-game losing streak with a stirring surge after intermission. The senior captain racked up a season-high 30 points, including a rare 3-pointer, to go over 1,400 points for her career, becoming only the fourth player in team history to reach the milestone.

While Aliyah Stephens finished with 12 points, it was Marisa Morano who gave Ursinus an unexpected boost on the offensive end with a career-high 15 points. Ten of those came in the fourth quarter alone, when the Bears outscored McDaniel, 21-7, to take control. Morano came in with only four double-digit games on her career ledger.

Ursinus shot just 31 percent from the field in the first half and trailed 40-27 after Anna Mondoro knocked down a 3-pointer on the first possession of the second half. Still behind by 11 midway through the frame, Konstanzer ignited a 9-0 run with just the fourth trey of her career, to pull the visitors within two late in the period.

Another 3 by Mondoro stretched the Green Terror lead back out to 47-40 in the first minute of the fourth quarter, and that's when Morano took over. The junior canned a jumper and hit a pair of free throws off a steal before draining a triple to cut the deficit to 49-47 with 6:06 to play.

Morano came through in the clutch several more times down the stretch, putting the Bears ahead to stay with a 3-pointer that made it 53-51 with 3:53 on the timer. Konstanzer, who assisted on Morano's 3, then found herself on the receiving end of the connection on a lay-up to go ahead by four, and Francesca Bogiatzis' block led to a transition bucket for Stephens to extend the margin to 57-51 with just over two minutes to go.

Ursinus held the Green Terror (3-7, 0-6) without a point for the final 4:18 of game time. McDaniel was a paltry 6-of-30 from the field after halftime and finished at 32.8 percent for the night (20-for-61).

The Bears were aggressive from the opening tip, racking up 33 free-throw attempts to just eight for the hosts, even though they made only 16 of them.

Konstanzer grabbed eight rebounds to lead Ursinus, which got seven apiece from Morano and Bogiatzis and six out of Stephens.

Morano played all 40 minutes and went 5-for-5 from the field, making both of her attempts from beyond the arc.

The Bears return home to take on Dickinson on Saturday.