ALLENTOWN, PA. - A huge second half comeback leads Ursinus College Women's Basketball to a Centennial Conference victory over Muhlenberg. The Bears trailed by eleven points at halftime and earned a 71-63 victory in overtime to earn their second consecutive victory.  

First-year forward Chinwe Irondi paced the Bears offense, scoring 22 points and collecting 20 rebounds. She is the first Bear since Lindsey Teuber in 2012 to haul in 20 rebounds in a single contest. Irondi is the second player in Bears history to record a 20 point and 20 rebound game, and the first since Alex Shives in 2008 against Bryn Mawr. Natalie Mehl scored a career-high 20 points and tallied four assists. Senior Gabby Downs added 12 points, six rebounds and 5 assists for the Bears.  

Ursinus jumped out a quick 6-3 lead at the 7:51 mark in the first quarter after Irondi connected on a jump shot. The Bears would only be able to score two free throws the rest of the quarter as the Mules went on an 11-2 run over the last seven minutes.  

Muhlenberg stretched their lead to nine points after Tara Szawaluk converted on a layup opportunity at the 6:39 mark of the second quarter. Both teams then traded three-pointers and a free throw from Muhlenberg made the score 23-13 with 4:38 to play in the half. Maria D'Aulerio scored the next five points for the Bears, but Muhlenberg answered each time with a jump shot of their own and held a 27-18 lead. After a layup from the Mules, Ursinus trailed 29-18 at halftime.  

Irondi opened the third quarter with nine straight points and cut the Bears deficit to just four points at the 5:56 mark. Muhlenberg's offense answered with a 7-3 run and stretched their lead back to eight points with just over 2 minutes to play in the third quarter. After a Bears timeout, Ursinus closed out the third quarter on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 38. 

In the fourth quarter, after a Muhlenberg layup, Gabby Downs drained a three-pointer to give the Bears a 41-40 lead with 9:14 remaining in the fourth. After a three-pointer from Mehl and a layup from Irondi, the Bears led 46-40 with 7:09 remaining.  Mehl would later continue her dominant night from the field, connecting on a three-pointer and a layup that stretched the Bears lead to 11 with 5:01 remaining in the fourth. Muhlenberg answered with two three-pointers of their own and cut the deficit to just five points with 40 seconds to go. After a Bears free throw, Szawluk cut the Mules deficit to just three points after drilling a three-pointer from the wing. With 24 seconds remaining, Mehl knocked home both of her free throws and stretched the Bears lead to five points. Muhlenberg's Rachel Saxton drilled a three-pointer with seven seconds remaining in the fourth to force overtime as both teams were knotted at 57 a piece.  

In overtime, the Mules jumped out to an early four-point lead after back-to-back layups. Mehl answered for the Bears drilling threes on back-to-back possessions and tied the score at 63 with 2:58 to play. The Bears closed out the contest on an 8-0 run, thanks to clutch free shooting from Irondi and Kelly Grant.  

The Bears will return to action on Saturday as they travel to Johns Hopkins for their final game of the season.