COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus Women's Basketball team opened their 2021-22 season with a 71-65 setback to Immaculata on Saturday afternoon at Helfferich Hall in non-conference action.
This was the first game for the Bears in 623 days after the 2020-21 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Immaculata of the Atlantic East Conference played in two contests earlier this year in March against Gwynedd Mercy.
Freshman Chinwe Irondi led the Bears with a team-high 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field and grabbed six rebounds. Sophomore Sarah DiLello added 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field while adding four rebounds, and classmate Maria D'Aulerio posted 11 points behind going a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. Junior Alyssa Martin recorded team-highs with four blocks and four assists.
The teams traded three-pointers in the opening minutes of the first quarter before a quick 7-2 burst from the Mighty Macs gave them a 10-5 advantage at the 6:45-mark of the first quarter. The Bears pulled back within one point of Immaculata on three separate occasions in the first quarter, but that would be as close as they would get. The Mighty Macs held a 16-15 edge after one and opened the second quarter with four-straight points to go up 20-15 at the 8:20-mark. A three-pointer from D'Aulerio cut the deficit down to 20-18 before the Mighty Macs went a on a short 7-3 run to take a 27-21 advantage at the 5:55-mark of the second half. Immaculata went up 31-25 following a jumper at the 3:46-mark, but the Bears were able to shut out the Mighty Macs in the rest of the second quarter. Martin scored the final points of the half on a jumper at the 1:59-mark to make it a 31-27 contest at halftime.
Senior Gabby Downs opened the scoring in the second half with a three-pointer to pull the Bears within one point at 31-30 at the 9:10-mark. Immaculata responded with a jumper to go up 33-30 before Ursinus used a 9-4 run to take their first lead of the contest at 39-37 following a three-pointer from junior Alison Lisanti. However, Immaculata countered with nine unanswered points to take their largest lead of the game at 48-39 with 2:36 left in the third quarter. Immaculata went 4-of-6 from the field in the run and held the Bears without a point for a span of 4:47. Ursinus then used a 6-2 run to pull within four points at 50-46 as the third quarter ended. The fourth quarter started with back-and-forth action as the Mighty Macs held a 54-51 lead with 7:06 left in regulation. Immaculata used back-to-back baskets to take a 58-51 at the 6:14-mark. A three-pointer put the Mighty Macs up 61-52 with 4:40 left in regulation before the Bears tallied five-straight points to make it a 61-57 at the 3:41-mark. Unfortunately for the Bears, that would be as close as they would get for the rest of the contest. Immaculata went 7-of-10 from the free throw line down the stretch to close the game out at 71-65.
The Bears went 44.6 percent (25-of-56) from the field and (32%) 8-of-25 from beyond the arc. Ursinus went just 7-of-12 (58.3%) from the free throw line and held a slight 30-29 advantage in rebounds. Meanwhile, the Mighty Macs shot 50 percent (25-of-50) from the field and 8-of-20 (40%) from beyond the arc. Immaculata went a solid 13-of-17 (76.5%) from the free throw line and forced 20 Ursinus turnovers. Theresa Kearney led all scorers on the floor with 19 points and record four rebounds along with two assists. Jordan Rook added 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field while posting four rebounds and three assists.
Ursinus will return to action on Wednesday, November 10th as they will host Albright at 7:30 p.m. in non-conference action.