The women's basketball team split the weekend, falling hard to Harvard Friday night and pulling out a one-point victory over Dartmouth Saturday.
Harvard 72, Brown 59
The Bears (8-18, 4-8 Ivy League) upset the Crimson (16-9, 8-3) at home only two weeks earlier, but they were not able to repeat their performance at Lavietes Pavilion. In what has become a pattern this season, Brown started off strong but lost momentum in the second half.
The teams traded baskets and leads for the first 10 minutes, but Bruno had to play catch-up for the rest of the half. Harvard held its greatest lead of the night, 29-14, with seven minutes remaining in the first. But the Bears had a scoring surge, and a three-pointer by guard Lindsay Nickel '13 at 1:06 pulled Brown within one at the half.
"There have been times in this season where we have not responded very well, and we stormed back this time to make it a one-point game," Nickel said.
But that was the closest Bruno got. They came out slow in the second half, and the Crimson jumped at the opportunity, scoring 15 points in the first seven minutes. Guard Victoria Lippert led the charge, scoring seven of those points to put Harvard up by 10, 50-40. Though Nickel led the offense with 15 points, and the team shot 46 percent from the field — one of its highest percentages all season — Bruno could not recover from the early second-half deficit.
Brown 56, Dartmouth 55
The Saturday night game started as a crowd-pleaser in Hanover, but the Bears ended up spoiling the fun.
"At Hanover, they pack the house," Nickel said. "It's known as one of the toughest courts to play on. They bring the whole town of Hanover. It was their senior night and just a really emotional game."
It was a low-scoring first half, with Bruno and the Big Green (7-18, 3-8) trading leads eight times. After the first nine minutes, both teams had only eight points apiece.
Guard Sheila Dixon '13 then gave Bruno a boost with a jumper and a free throw, putting her team up, 11-8. At 5:06, the Bears had a four-point advantage, the biggest lead either team held in the entire half. At the end of 20 minutes, Dartmouth had retaken the lead, 22-19.
Breaking the cycle of slow second halves, the Bears exploded after the break, scoring 14 points in the first eight minutes. But Dartmouth scored 11 points, keeping the game tied, 33-33. The teams continued to trade leads, and with only 1:22 remaining, the Big Green held a one-point advantage.
"They hit big shots, and we would answer," Nickel said. "They were playing for their seniors, and we just hung with them in the end."
In the final minutes, Dixon took charge. She hit a three-pointer at the one-minute mark, following it up with a steal and breakaway layup to give Bruno the advantage. At the buzzer, Dartmouth guard Meghan McFee hit a three, but it wasn't enough for the Big Green.
Dixon was on fire Saturday night. She put up a game and career-high 22 points and 14 rebounds. Co-captain Aileen Daniels '12 and guard Lauren Clarke '14 each added 10 points for the Bears.
The team will return home to face Cornell (6-20, 3-9) and Columbia (5-19, 4-6) at the Pizzitola Center to close out the season.
