COLLEGEVILLE, PA. - The Ursinus College Women's Basketball team dropped a hard-fought battle to Gettysburg on Saturday afternoon with a score of 69-48 inside Helfferich Hall.
The Bears were led by Senior Gabby Downs who scored a game high of 22 points on 6 of 9 shooting from behind the arc. Downs hauled in 6 rebounds and Kelly Grant added 6 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists during the contest.
In the first quarter, Downs scored the first five points for the Bears after swishing a three-pointer and a jump shot. Gettysburg tied the game at five a piece after a layup from Carly Rice at the 7:22 mark. Later in the period, Rice and Downs traded three-pointers to cut the deficit to just two points with 5:04 remaining. After a Natalie Mehl three-pointer, Gettysburg closed the quarter with a 6-0 run to lead 20-13 after the first quarter.
Both teams struggled in the opening minutes of the second quarter before the Bullets stretched their lead to nine points after a jump shot with 8 minutes to play. Gettysburg went on a 4-0 run over the next four minutes and led 26-13 before Kelly Grant added three free throws to cut the deficit to ten. The Bears closed the quarter on an 8-4 run to make the score 30-24 at halftime.
Gettysburg opened the third quarter with a 4-0 run before Chinwe Irondi answered with a layup at the 8:22 mark. Trailing by 10, Downs connected on a three-pointer and then a jump shot on the following possession cut the Bullets lead to just five. Gettysburg would go on an 11-1 run over the next four minutes and stretch their lead to 15 with 2:03 to play. Downs connected on another three-pointer with 24 seconds left in the third quarter to make the score 52-39 with ten minutes to play.
After a pair of free throws found the back of the net for Gettysburg, Downs hit back-to-back threes to make the score 56-46 with just over 8 minutes to play in the fourth. Gettysburg would close out the fourth quarter with a 12-2 run over the remaining eight minutes to collect their eleventh straight victory.
In the contest, Gettysburg held the advantage from the field shooting 48% compared to 31% for the Bears. The Bullets converted 17 of 20 free throws from the charity strip and created 16 points from turnovers on the day.
The Bears will look to bounce back on Tuesday as they travel to Swarthmore for a Centennial Conference showdown with the Garnet at 6pm.