ARLINGTON, Va. – The Ursinus College women's basketball team hung with host Marymount (Va.) for a half, but the Bears went cold after intermission and succumbed to a 46-32 decision in the opening round of the fourth annual Pablo Coto Tip-Off Tournament in Arlington.
Freshman Lydia Konstanzer posted seven points and seven rebounds and fellow first-year Paulina Boyer added six points and seven boards – all in the first half – for Ursinus (0-2), which went 3-for-26 from the field in the second stanza and shot just 21.2 percent for the game (11 of 56). The Bears will take on Colorado College, which lost 66-38 to Washington and Lee, in the consolation game Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
Kiki Laux (16 points, nine rebounds) and Nicole Viscuso (ten points, eight rebounds) combined for 26 points and 17 rebounds for the host Saints (2-0), who reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago and are receiving votes in the d3hoops.com Division III poll. The Bears held Marymount to 30.8-percent shooting (16 of 52) for the night, but the home side used a 44-34 advantage on the glass and scored 16 points off 18 Ursinus turnovers to gain ample separation.
The Bears led by as many as four midway through the second quarter. Trailing 14-9, Boyer sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a bucket by Konstanzer, her second triple giving the visitors a three-point lead with 7:32 to play in the frame. Two free throws by freshman Marisa DiLeo pushed the spread to 19-15, but the Saints responded with a 14-3 burst to close the half with a seven-point lead.
Neither team got much going offensively after the break. Marymount scored just 17 points in the second half, but the Bears only managed ten, held down by a 1-for-15 performance in the fourth quarter. Ursinus limited the Saints to five points in the final frame, but its shooting woes kept it from closing the gap.
Senior captain Libby Lannon equaled Konstanzer for the team lead with seven points, and sophomore Kaci McNeave registered five. DiLeo collected four points, sophomore Brielle Clarke knocked down a 3-pointer and swiped two steals, and freshman Toni Suler coupled four rebounds with a game-high two blocks. Freshman Krista Schneider pulled down five rebounds in 11 minutes off the bench.
With losses against 2016 NCAA Tournament teams behind them, the Bears aim for their first victory of the season against Colorado College tomorrow afternoon.