CARLISLE, Pa. – Allie Cook and Alyssa Polimeni did everything they could to bring the Ursinus College women's basketball team back from a nine-point deficit in the second half of tonight's Centennial Conference contest at Dickinson. Despite scoring outbursts from the former in the third quarter and the latter in the fourth, the Red Devils made enough plays late to hold off the Bears' spirited charge and hand the visitors their first conference loss of the season, 62-51.
Polimeni netted a game-high 21 points for Ursinus (7-6, 6-1), 18 of them coming in the second half. Ten of them came in the fourth quarter, when the senior's remarkable individual effort nearly brought the Bears all the way back. She grabbed nine rebounds and dished out four assists, adding nine more free throws (9 of 11) to her league-leading tally. Cook, meanwhile, scored all of her season-high ten points in the third quarter. Senior forward Jessica Porada matched her with ten of her own, but no other Bear scored more than three points on a rough night in which they shot just 28.3 percent from the field (17 of 60).
Despite the setback, Ursinus remained in first place in the league standings thanks to McDaniel's 65-59 victory at 9th-ranked and unbeaten Muhlenberg. The Bears were looking to match the best Centennial Conference start ever, set during the 1993-94 campaign.
Dickinson (6-6, 3-4) went 21 of 43 (48.8 percent) from the floor to overcome 14 turnovers and secure a split of the season series. Helen Roberts paced the Red Devils with 18 points, including a back-breaking 3-pointer in the final two minutes, and Mary Martin chipped in with 11. Kassidy Lesher grabbed 11 rebounds as the Red Devils out-boarded the Bears, 38-29.
After shooting a miserable 12.5 percent (4 of 32) in the first half, after which Dickinson led 20-14, Cook went to work. The junior guard knocked down a jumper to start Ursinus on the comeback trail, and nailed a 3-pointer after the Red Devils had surged out to a 27-18 spread.
The home side still led, 33-25, before the Red and Gold began to catch fire in the final four minutes of the frame. After a free throw by Porada and a bucket from Polimeni, Cook added one of her own to cut the margin to three. Polimeni matched a Red Devil basket with two free throws before Cook canned a game-tying triple, and Porada's jumper with 23 ticks remaining gave the Bears their first lead since the opening minutes, a slim 37-35 edge heading into the final ten minutes.
Dickinson pulled back in front with the first six points of the stanza before Polimeni put the Bears on her back, scoring ten of the team's next 11 points to keep it within striking distance. But every time Polimeni struck, the Red Devils responded.
When the senior's three-point play made it 41-40, Martin answered with a jumper. When Polimeni cut the deficit to one with a lefty lay-in off a steal, Roberts swished a baseline runner. After a strong drive down the right side of the line made it a one-point game again at 47-46, Roberts drained two free throws, and when Polimeni went the length of the floor for a score in transition, Smith hit a pair from the stripe.
Porada's three-point play made it 53-51 with 1:51 to play after a nifty turnaround by Mairead Donahue. To the Bears' chagrin, Roberts connected on a clutch corner trey on the ensuing possession to supply a five-point lead, and Ursinus never scored again as the Red Devils pulled off the upset.
Dickinson shot 66.7 percent from the floor (14 of 21) in the second half.
The two sides combined to miss their first 12 shots, and the game remained scoreless for nearly four minutes until Porada scored inside on a feed from Polimeni. Only five shots went through the net in the first quarter, which ended in a 6-6 stalemate.
The arrival of the second quarter did little to solve the Bears' woes. The visitors missed their first nine shots of the stanza, and by the time senior forward Caroline Shimrock got Ursinus on the board at the 2:16 mark, Dickinson had opened up a nine-point lead. It grew as large as 12 (20-8) before the Bears went into halftime on a 6-0 run.
The women's basketball team attempts to bounce back from its first league loss when it welcomes Gettysburg to Helfferich Hall for a 6:00 p.m. date on Thursday, January 14.