Judging the women's basketball team's matchups based on pre-weekend records, the games went as expected. The Bears took on a red-hot 13-2 Princeton team on Friday night and a struggling one-win Penn squad on Saturday. Brown fell, 75-44, to the Tigers, but defeated the Quakers, 61-47.
Princeton 75, Brown 44
The Tigers pounced on the Bears in the first 10 minutes, jumping out to a 23-5 lead and shooting 55 percent from three-point range and the field. Brown scored just 17 points the first half, but they came out of the locker room and put up 27 in the second.
The Bears were a perfect eight-of-eight shooting from the free throw stripe, but just 25 percent from beyond the arc on the night. Natalie Bonds '10 and Sarah Delk '11 grabbed six and eight rebounds, respectively. No Brown player scored in the double digits, as the Bears' leading scorer, Lindsay Steele '12, had nine points. But with four players in double digits, Princeton showed why they lead the Ivy League standings.
Brown 61, Penn 47
Coming off a blowout loss to Princeton, the Bears looked to regain momentum in Ivy play Saturday night. The game was a steady battle for the first half, as both the Bears and Quakers shot 30 percent from the field. However, the Bears' power on the boards, led by Hanna Passafuime '12 and Courtney Lee '10, allowed them to have a 24-18 lead at the half. Bruno earned 12 second chance points compared to Penn's five.
The Bears got key points from their younger players, as Brown's bench outscored the Quakers, 35-24. Since injuries have been a problem for Brown this season, it was no surprise how deep its bench was, according to forward Aileen Daniels '12.
"We've had to become more flexible," Daniels said. "Players have had to fill in for the injured players, and do on the floor what those key players had done well."
"Those with fewer minutes have had the opportunity to step up and show what they've got in the face of all kinds of pressures," she added.
The Bears maintained their momentum for the rest of the game. Passafuime finished the night with 21 points. Lindsay Nickel '13 scored 11 and Daniels posted 10. The team shot 92 percent from the line, missing only one on the night.
The Bears return to their home court to take on Columbia (12-6, 3-1 Ivy) and Cornell (5-12, 0-4 Ivy) Feb. 5 and 6. Brown sits in the middle of the league standings with a 2-2 record.
