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Women’s basketball launches comeback victory against Dartmouth

Led by a 21-point effort from Alyssa Moreland ’26, the Bears dominated the paint.

Brown women's basketball player prepares to shoot a free-throw.

Alyssa Moreland '26 scored 21 points in victory against Dartmouth.

Courtesy of Brown Athletics

On Saturday, the women’s basketball team (9-9, 3-2 Ivy) took down Dartmouth (8-10, 2-3 Ivy) 64-56 in Hanover, New Hampshire. Mounting a second-half surge, Bruno scored 28 points in the fourth quarter.

The comeback win was sweet revenge for Brown after the Big Green defeated them 64-48 in their Ivy League home opener on Jan. 4. Alyssa Moreland ’26 excelled in the victory, scoring 21 points and snatching 16 rebounds, both career highs.

Moreland attributed her standout performance to the team’s energy. “I felt good going into the game and super confident in the team,” she wrote in an email to The Herald. “Everyone brought a ton of energy, making the game easy and encouraging me to keep going.”

Her dominant performance on the glass came from a deliberate shift in Brown’s strategy emphasizing physicality beneath the rim.

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In their first matchup against Dartmouth, the Bears struggled shooting from beyond the arc, connecting on just five of 29 attempts. But on Saturday, Brown recalibrated its attack and dominated the inside. Only 15 of their 44 shots came from three as they outscored the Big Green 26-12 in the paint. 

Their aggressive plan paid dividends at the free throw line, where Bruno attempted 31 free throws — more than double Dartmouth’s 15 — proving their willingness to draw contact.

Brown’s victory was far from obvious early on. The Bears scored just five points in the first quarter as Dartmouth built an eight-point lead. But as the game continued, Bruno displayed its grit on the defensive end and held their opponent to single-digits in the second quarter. By halftime, the gap had narrowed to two points.


“We tried to keep the emphasis on getting stops defensively, and letting that fuel our offense,” Head Coach Monique LeBlanc wrote in a message to The Herald. “When we did make a big play on offense, the focus was to back it up with our defense.”

Dartmouth clung to a slim one-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter — but it would be their last lead of the game. Early in the fourth, Moreland secured an offensive rebound, scoring a putback layup while drawing a foul on Dartmouth. Following her successful free throw, the Bears claimed a two-point lead. 

“Alyssa played with great energy,” LeBlanc wrote. “She is a big spark for our team — when she plays with that edge, our team really responds to it.”

After Dartmouth evened the score at 45 with just 5:31 to play, Gia Powell ’28 drained a three-pointer to put Bruno back on top for good. Brown went a perfect eight-for-eight from the free throw line in the final 90 seconds to close out the game.

“Every game is so big in Ivy play,” LeBlanc wrote. “Our team really wanted this win — they were very focused and played with great intensity.”

Alongside Moreland’s stellar performance, Grace Arnolie ’26 filled up the stat sheet, scoring 18 points in addition to six assists and six rebounds. Much like the team as a whole, Arnolie turned it on after halftime, scoring 15 of her 18 points while making all seven of her free throws.

Arnolie credited LeBlanc for pushing her to shift her mindset in the second half. 

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“At halftime, Coach Mo called me out and said that the team needed more from me,” she explained. “I used that as motivation to come out really aggressively and assert myself in the second half.”

Brown’s defense was especially impressive on Saturday, as they held Dartmouth’s Victoria Page, who scored a game-high 14 points in the team’s first Ivy League matchup, to 2-for-16 shooting.

“We came into the game really focused on our defense and getting stops,” Moreland wrote. “We knew that if we could lock into the defensive end and shut down their best player that our offense would take care of itself.”

After starting 2-5, the Bears have won seven of their last 11 games and currently sit in fourth place in the Ivy League standings. With Ivy Madness coming to Providence this year, the team is as focused as ever on securing a spot in the playoffs.

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“The team is hungry for a spot in Ivy Madness, and we are working really hard each and every game to show that we deserve to be there,” Arnolie wrote. “Every practice is loud and competitive, and we all want to push each other to get better. It’s an awesome feeling that every player is willing to do anything for this team.”

The Bears open a three-game homestand on Friday, when they will host sixth-place Penn (10-8, 1-4 Ivy).


Gus Bailey

Gus Bailey is a senior staff writer covering the sports beat. He is a sophomore studying applied math-economics. His interests include data analytics, marketing, social media and of course, sports.



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