Winter sports have arrived here at Ursinus, which means the women’s basketball team is back in action.
The team is coming off a big season, recording their greatest number of wins since 2018-2019, and securing a first round home game in the Centennial Tournament. Coming into this season, the team is eager to build on last year’s success, but this may prove to be a challenge since they are now without their All-American forward Chinwe Irondi, who graduated last spring. Luckily for the Bears, several key players are returning, including Madison Smith, Colleen Blackman, and Ava Possenti 26’ – all of whom led the team in points behind Irondi last season.
The Bears opened their season on the road against Widener at the annual Gwynedd Mercy Tip-Off Tournament, where they were defeated 82-67. Widener took an early lead in the first half which left the Bears trailing by 10. The ladies started heating up in the third quarter, scoring 22 points to Widener’s 20, but they were unable to overcome the double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter, eventually losing by 15.
Fortunately, the ladies had a dominant 81-40 win in their following game, a tough day for their opponents, Gwynedd Mercy. The offense started off strong, scoring 27 points in the first quarter, and kept the momentum going throughout the next three. Their defense, led by Possesnti, recorded 14 steals and also pressured their opponents into making 24 turnovers. It was also a stellar night for Blackman who recorded a career-high of 28 points, helping to run up the score and secure a commanding victory for Ursinus.
In the following week, the team traveled to Aston to take on Neumann University, coming out on top once again. The ladies looked to be in control throughout the entire game, outscoring Neumann in all four quarters. The game concluded with a final score of 65-44 thanks to a key performance from Possenti, who led the team in scoring and recorded six rebounds and 5 steals. Junior guard Erin Glanz also had a big game, recording a career-high of 12 points.
While the team has done well in the first three games, there is no question that the loss of their star player Irondi has affected the team’s offensive production (or more so their slight lack thereof). This could become especially crucial in closer inter-conference games where just a few points make the difference. At the moment, it seems the Bears need someone who can be relied upon to make up that difference, just as Irondi did.
With that being said, this challenge was to be expected coming into the season and so far, the players have done well minimizing the loss. Players like Blackman and Smith put up solid numbers in the first four games, with 63 and 48 total points respectively. In addition it seems other players are taking the next step including Makenna Foder and Emma Afflerbach 27’, who has already matched her point total from last season.
Ultimately, it will be exciting to see if the Bears can match their success from last year, and perhaps even more exciting to see which players will rise to the occasion and help the team get there.
Be sure to cheer on women’s basketball in their next home game against McDaniel College on December 6th.