Fresh off a victory over Cornell a week ago, guard Sheila Dixon '13 sounded confident about the upcoming games against Dartmouth and Harvard.
"We're ready to go. Both games are very winnable, and we're looking to make them ours."
Dixon proved to be confident for a reason. The women's basketball team (7-15, 3-5 Ivy) swept the weekend, taking down Dartmouth (5-16, 1-6) on Friday night, 56-48, and then inching past Harvard (13-8, 5-2) on Saturday, 57-56. The Bears had not defeated either Dartmouth or Harvard since their 2005-06 Ivy League Championship season.
Brown's substitutes came up big both nights. Forward Caroline King '13 pulled down a career-high nine rebounds and had four points off the bench on Friday night.
"I would say that this is Caroline King's best game at Brown University," said Head Coach Jean Burr.
"There was unselfishness from the bench — the subs came in and really made a difference," Burr added. "That's a real tribute to a good team effort."
Rookies Sophie Beutel '14 and Maggie Smith '14 gave Brown an extra lift. Smith pulled down a career-high seven rebounds on Friday night and Beutel had four points and four rebounds for the Bears on Saturday.
Point guard Lauren Clarke '14 led the way for the Bears Friday night, notching 12 points and six rebounds.
The Bears dominated on Friday against Dartmouth, but the game against Harvard was a tight one. The Bears were up by as much as 11 points in the first half, but the Crimson came out hot after the break and kept things close.
With two minutes left, Harvard went on a six-point streak — including four points from guard Christine Clark — to make it a one-point game, 57-56. The Crimson called two timeouts in the last minute to draw up plays but missed both shot attempts. Brogan Berry missed a jump shot with two seconds remaining, and Christine Matera could not put in the follow-up effort.
"We started to get a little tentative," said guard Lindsay Nickel '13. "They are a big second-half team — they always have a strong second half. But we continued to make defensive stops, and it all worked out in the end."
The Bears will be back on the road this weekend, looking to avenge early losses to Penn and Princeton. The Bears will play Penn Friday night and Princeton Saturday.
