Ian Abrahams
iaabrahams@ursinus.edu
The night of January 29th brought the Women’s Basketball team a hard-fought defeat against Haverford. With a final score of 59-64, Ursinus was in it until the end. Seventy-eight people attended the game, and they enjoyed a ride. Ursinus started the game with a quick, hopeful lead, but the tide quickly turned. Haverford started scoring and Ursinus went into half-time down by 9, 26-35.
Throughout the game, the Bears were on the attack, both with an aggressive offense and a persistent defense. However, many of their most notable moments took place later on in the game, which shows their endurance and grit. According to the announcers, Nathaniel Dorfman, and Mike Stanziale whose broadcast, which includes live play-by-plays for each and every game, can be accessed on the website, a big moment was when Lydia Konstanzer set an “earth crunching screen” in the 3rd quarter, which informed Haverford that “the Bears are not to be trifled with.” And that they are not, as even in the final moments of the game, Alyssa Martin scored a delightful three pointer, refusing to give up.
The Bears’ effort was greatly aided earlier in the fourth when Coach White called timeout, stunting Haverford’s offensive momentum. It showed an encouraging dynamic because once the timeout ended, the players were right back in it, as determined as ever.
Overall the team is 6-12 as of Wednesday night, but they seem to be losing close games, and they can hold their heads high.
Guard Aliyah Stephens, expressed her thoughts on the outcome of the game: “it was a good run,” she said. “Haverford is a tough team…Centennial Conference games are like that… We competed together well.” Dorfman stated, “Stephens really stood out to us. It felt like every minute we were saying her name in the booth. She was an impact player.”
As February closes out the season, be sure to catch one of the team’s upcoming teeth-clenchers. Their schedule can be found on the official Bears website.