READING, Pa. – Sophomore Kaci McNeave scored a career-high 13 points and Lydia Konstanzer chipped in 11 in her collegiate debut, but despite their best efforts the Ursinus College women's basketball team fell by a 70-51 count at No. 11 Albright in the 2016-17 season opener on Tuesday evening.
Albright, coming off a 27-3 campaign and a berth in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, pulled away late in the first half and took complete command with a dominant third quarter in which it outscored the Bears, 17-4. Jane Joyce led all scorers with 14 points, Alysha Lofton added 11, and five other players registered at least seven points for the Lions, who shot 49.1 percent from the floor and owned a 39-28 advantage on the glass.
McNeave scored a total of 15 points as a freshman, but nearly matched that entire output in the lid lifter. In her first career start, the point guard went 5 for 10 from the field and 3 of 6 from 3-point range, scoring ten points in the first half alone. Konstanzer paired four rebounds with her 11 points and fellow rookie Paulina Boyer knocked down two 3-pointers in her own debut, while senior co-captain Libby Lannon stuffed the stat sheet with six points, team highs of six rebounds and four steals, and two assists.
Konstanzer, who also had a block and an assist, became the first Ursinus freshman to hit double figures in points in her first game since Alyssa Polimeni and Caroline Shimrock each netted 13 in 2012.
Though Albright led wire to wire, the Bears hung around for much of the first quarter. A steal and jumper by Lannon got the visitors to within 9-8, but the Lions closed the opening frame on an 8-0 run. Ursinus got within six three times in the second stanza, the last on a jumper by Konstanzer that made it 21-15 with 6:48 remaining in the half, and found itself down single digits inside the final two minutes.
Albright finished the second quarter strong to take a 14-point lead into intermission, and held the Bears to just 2-of-16 shooting in the third to gain an insurmountable advantage. Ursinus finished strong in the fourth quarter, shooting 9-for-12 from the field and scoring 25 points after posting just 26 in the first three frames.
Nina Mazzarelli had nine points, seven rebounds, and five assists for the Lions, and Lofton tacked on seven boards, four steals, three assists, and three blocks to her stat line.
Sophomore Brielle Clarke swiped three of the Bears' ten steals on the night. Freshman Toni Suler started in the frontcourt and put up four points and four rebounds, while Marisa DiLeo (four points) and Krista Schneider (three) found the scoring column in their first collegiate action.
Ursinus finished 6-of-15 from beyond the arc; a year ago, the Bears hit six or more 3-pointers only three times, all in the final three games of the season.
The women's basketball team takes on another NCAA Tournament participant from a year ago on Friday, when the Bears head to Arlington to kick off the Pablo Coto Tip-Off Tournament against host Marymount (Va.), which reached the second round last season. Ursinus tips off at 5:00 p.m.
