COLLEGEVILLE, PA. - The Ursinus College women's basketball team treated the fans at Helfferich Hall to a thrilling 69-60 victory in double overtime on Saturday afternoon. The Bears' last overtime victory came back in January of 2019 when they defeated F&M 96-89 in OT. Their last double overtime game was in January of 2012 after defeating F&M 58-54 inside Helfferich Hall.
Chinwe Irondi posted her second career double-double tallying 21 points and 14 rebounds on 8 of 19 from the field. Irondi was one of the five Bears who scored double figures, as Kelly Grant and Alison Lisanti both scored 12. Second-year forward Katie McCusker tallied 10 points off the bench and added 6 rebounds for the Bears.
In the first quarter, the Bears jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after Irondi scored the first three baskets of the game. McDaniel answered back with two free throws from Ellie Glass and a 3-pointer from Liliana Overcash cut the deficit to one with 4:29 remaining. Katie McCusker scored six points off the bench to give Ursinus the 14-8 lead after one.
In the second, both offenses slowed down as Ursinus outscored the Green Terror 10-9. For McDaniel, Glass scored five points on two of three field goals from the field. Irondi tallied seven points in the second while securing two rebounds and Ursinus lead 24-17 at the break.
The Green Terror started their comeback in the third quarter, outscoring Ursinus 17-13 to cut the deficit to three after the third quarter. Behind four points from Mallory Conroy, McDaniel netted the first six points of the quarter. Alison Lisanti increased the Bears lead to six after hitting back-to-back three-pointers with 2:37 remaining. Ursinus led 37-34 after three quarters.
To start the fourth, Gabby Downs made a jump shot followed by a Sarah DiLello steal and layup made the sore 41-34. McDaniel answered with a three-pointer from Julia Ryan and then a Glass jump shot made the deficit 2 for the Green Terror. With six minutes remaining, a McCusker layup pushed the Bears lead to 7.
The Green Terror scored the next seven points and tied the score at 46 with 1:30 remaining after a Liliana Overcash layup. The Bears increased their lead to three after a Kelly Grant layup and free throw attempt. McDaniel held the ball for the last shot and Maggie Burgess nailed a three-pointer to tie the game.
In the first overtime, McDaniel jumped out to a five-point lead until a Gabby Downs three made the score 56-54 with one minute remaining. After a foul on the Green Terror, Chinwe Irondi tied the score at 56 with 30 seconds left. Ellie Glass took the last shot for McDaniel, but it was too strong, and we would head to a second overtime.
Ursinus would jump out a 61-56 lead after a Listanti three-pointer and Irondi knocked down two free throws. Downs put the Green Terror away after splashing a three with one-minute remaining.
The Bears outscored McDaniel 13-4 in the second overtime and improved to 2-5 for the season. Ursinus will return to action on Wednesday as they travel to play Cabrini at 7PM.