CHESTERTOWN, Md. – Visiting Ursinus got a game-high 17 points from Natalie Mehl in a 50-40 win over host Washington College on Tuesday evening at Penny J. Fall Gymnasium in the first round of the Centennial Conference Women's Basketball Tournament.  The Bears, the tournament's fifth seed, improves to 15-11 on the season, while the fourth seeded Shorewomen cap their season at 14-12.  Ursinus will travel to #13 Johns Hopkins, the tournament's top seed, on Friday at 8:00 p.m.

Ursinus 50 Washington College 40 (Centennial Conference Tournament First Round)

How It Happened
- The Shorewomen scored the final four points of the first quarter to lead 11-9 after 10 minutes.  Peyton Berger put Washington ahead with 1:29 left on a jumper.
- Berger would give Washington its biggest lead of the game, 15-11, with 3:31 left in the second quarter before Ursinus scored the final nine points of the stanza to take a 20-15 lead at halftime.  Sarah DiLello put the Bears ahead 16-15 on a jumper with 2:09 left and Mehl connected on a three with 12 seconds to go to put Ursinus ahead by five at the break.
- The Bears would push their lead to 28-20 with 6:02 left in the third quarter on a traditional three-point play by Chinwe Irondi before the home side would finish the third on an 8-2 run to cut the lead to 30-28 after three after a jumper by Abby Meredith with 14 ticks remaining. 
- Emma Robinson would tie the game at 30-30 on the first possession of the fourth quarter on a layup.  The bunny capped a 10-2 run by the Shorewomen.
- Ursinus would respond 49 seconds later on two foul shots by Madison Smith to take a 32-30 lead and it would start an 8-0 run for the guests.  Irondi would net two from the free throw line with 5:31 remaining to make it 38-30.
- Trailing 45-37, the Shorewomen got within five with 2:00 left on a three-pointer by Karry Kelliher to cut the lead to 45-40. 
- That's as close as WC would get as Mehl would drain a triple with the shot clock running out with 57 seconds to go to make it 48-40. 
- Ursinus would make two free throws in four tries the rest of the way to cap the scoring.

For The Shorewomen (14-12)
- Serena Pluta (team-bests of 12 points, 12 rebounds and two steals), Kelliher (four assists and two blocks), Meredith (two steals)
- WC shot 26% from the floor (14-for-54), 29% from three-point range (4-for-14) and 80% (8-for-10) from the foul line in the game.
- The Shorewomen turned it over 12 times, while holding a slim 39-38 rebounding edge.
- WC outscored Ursinus in points off turnovers, 7-4, and second chance points, 7-5, bench points, 6-3, and points in the paint, 16-14.

For Ursinus (15-11)
- Mehl (game-high 17 points), Irondi (contest-bests of 13 rebounds, three steals and three blocks; 12 points), Smith (five assists to lead all players)
- The Bears shot 32% from the floor (16-for-50), 44% from three-point land (7-for-16) and 64% from the foul stripe (11-for-17).
- Ursinus had 12 turnovers in the game and scored the lone two transition points in the game.

Notes
- In the other first round game tonight, third seeded Dickinson held off sixth seeded Swarthmore, 46-42.  Dickinson will travel to #23 Gettysburg, the tournament's two seed, on Friday night.
- Tonight was the first all-time meeting between the Bears and Shorewomen in the conference tournament.  It was also Washington's first home conference tournament game in women's basketball.
- Pluta had her sixth double-double in the last 10 games this evening.
- Representing Washington for the final time this evening were Pluta and Kaleigh White.  The duo was part of three conference tournament teams that reached the conference semifinals twice.
- WC had its third straight winning season this winter, one shy of the program mark of four straight from 1995-96 through 1998-99.