COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – In game that featured 14 lead changes and 10 ties, Ursinus College closed with six of the final eight points to end Gettysburg's five-game winning streak 57-53 in Centennial Conference women's basketball action Thursday night inside Helfferich Hall.
Ursinus (10-3, 7-2 CC) broke a 51-all tie with a pair of free throws by Jen Sroba at 3:14 and following three misses by Gettysburg (9-4, 4-4 CC), the hosts picked up the only field goal in the final three minutes as Diamond Lewis converted a lay-up just before the one-minute mark.
Junior Julie McGrory (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) knocked down a pair of free throws as part of her game-high 17-point night to pull the visitors to 55-53 with 23 seconds left. McGrory had a chance to tie the contest following a 1-for-2 effort by Sroba at the line, but her three-pointer with seven seconds left was off target and Lewis corralled the rebound and knocked down one free throw to secure the win.
Mimicking the final minutes, the rest of the game was a back-and-forth battle as neither team led by more than six points at any point in the contest. After a 9-0 run by the Bullets gave the visitors their largest lead at 11-6, Ursinus countered right back with an 11-point run to jump ahead 17-11 with 8:46 on the first-half clock.
McGrory and junior Sara Kinsley (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield) accounted for each of the next nine points, capped by a three-pointer by the former to regain the advantage 20-17. The Bears turned the tide heading into the half, netting the final four points to lead 25-23.
The cat-and-mouse game continued in the second half as the point differential reached a high of four on just two occasions, the last by Ursinus at 41-37 with 11:06 to play. Gettysburg posted its largest lead of the final stanza at 47-44 following a pair of free throws by McGrory at 6:45, but the Bullets missed on their next five shot attempts to allow the Bears to crawl back in front by two and maintain the upper-hand.
McGrory's 17-point night came on a 6-for-16 night from the floor and a 4-for-4 performance at the charity stripe. Kinsley just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine boards, and she blocked two shots to become the fourth Bullet in school history with 100 career blocks. Senior Caitlin Moser (Wyomissing, Pa./Wyomissing) was limited by foul trouble, but she still managed eight points to reach 1,400 for her career.
Lewis paced Ursinus with 14 points, while Sarah Martin tallied 13 points and seven rebounds.
Gettysburg will look to rebound against Muhlenberg College (10-2, 6-1 CC) on Saturday, Jan. 15, at 2 p.m. inside Bream Gym. The Mules won the first meeting between the teams 63-60 on Nov. 23.