CARLISLE, Pa. - The Dickinson women's basketball team entered their regular season finale knowing that they were locked into the third seed in the upcoming Centennial Conference Tournament, but still wanted to play a solid and consistent game against the visiting Ursinus College Bears. For the first 30 minutes it was a "nip and tuck" game until the Red and White decided the fourth period was going to be all theirs as they outscored the Bears by a whopping 30-9 margin en route to an 83-65 Centennial Conference victory at the Kline Center.
Things could not have started better for the guests as the duo of Sarah DiLello and Chinwe Irondi gave them an 8-4 edge with 4:50 gone. Three points each from
Abby John and
Clair Marion put the Devils on top for the first time at 10-8, before the trio of Ava Possenti, Madison Smith and Irondi pushed the visitors back ahead 15-10. Marion would move the momentum needle back in the directon of the hosts with a triple at the end of the period to make it 15-13 after one.
Dickinson opened the second up strong with
Caitlin Blackman,
Clare Cronley,
Jenna Weinstein and John combining for an 11-6 outburst over the first 3:17 to go back ahead 24-21. The Bears answered back with five in a row as Natalie Mehl hit from deep and Smith setup Irondi down low to bring UC to the front 26-24 at the halfway point of the frame. Four points by
Lindsey Hollenshead along with a jumper for Cronley (John assist) opened the lead to 30-26. Ursinus outscored the Red and White 5-4 over the final two minutes with Smith dropping five, while Marion collected the four for the home side to give Dickinson a slim 34-31 halftime edge.Â
Ursinus started the third period on a "heater" as Mehl hit three times from deep and Irondi buried a jumper to make it 42-38 UC with 3:03 off the clock. Three-balls for both Cronley and Marion helped the hosts to cut the deficit down to 46-44 just over a minute later. Foul shots by Mehl and Possenti as well as a paint jumper for Smith opened the Bears lead out to five 52-47 with three minutes left. An "old-fashioned" three-point play from Cronley coupled with free throws for Blackman and John trimmed the gap to one (54-53), but a bucket by DiLello just prior to the horn made it 56-53 through 30 minutes.
The Devils started their fourth quarter rampage early with a pair of jumpers by Marion, followed by a triple from Blackman gave DC seven of the first nine points (60-58). Then after a single foul shot for Irondi, triples from Hollenshead, Marion and Weinstein along with other buckets by Hollenshead, John and Marion aided a 19-2 Devils outburst to open up a commanding 79-61 lead with just under two minutes left. Two at the stripe by Kelly Grant stemmed the tide for a brief moment, before Cronley and Weinstein added buckets to set the 83-65 win.
Red Devil Leaders
Points - Marion (22), Hollenshead (17), Cronley (15)
Assists - John (5), Blackman and Weinstein (3)
Rebounds - Cronley and John (6), Weinstein (5)
Bear Leaders
Points - Irondi (21), Mehl (17), Smith (12)
Assists - Grant (4), Mehl and Smith (3)
Rebounds - Irondi (8), Smith (5), Mehl (4)
Next on the Court
Dickinson (18-7, 15-5 (Centennial) will return to the Kline Center on Tuesday night at a time to be announced for a First Round Centennial Conference Tournament matchup against the sixth-seed Swarthmore College. Stay tuned to dickinsonathletics.com for a full game preview and ticket information on Monday.
