This weekend, the Brown Women’s rugby team began their spring season campaign as the reigning national rugby 7’s champions. The rugby team (4-0) — looking to defend their title for the third year in a row during the Collegiate Rugby Championships in April.
Throughout the weekends’ tournament, the Bears faced Roger Williams University, Northeastern University and Boston College. After going undefeated in regular play — taking down the Hawks 24-22, the Maddogs 39-0 and the Eagles 50-0 — Brown defeated Northeastern 41-7 in the tournament finale.
“The team is very focused on improving each game, staying positive and uplifting each other,” Head Coach Rosalind Chou wrote in a message to The Herald. “That energy they get from each other really carries the team through and is a big part of our success.”
The Bears faced an early scare against Roger Williams during the tourney’s opening match-up on Saturday. Only one minute into the game, Brown fell behind, and for the remainder of the 14-minute contest, the Bears were locked in an offensive slugout. Trading tries back and forth, Bruno still trailed 17-12 by halftime.
But after the break, the Bears came out with renewed vigor. Following two quick tries by Valentine Detheux ’27 and Jiya Sandhu ’27, the Bears claimed the lead. Aided by stellar defensive play, they secured the 24-22 win.
“We got off to a slow start and were relatively tentative on defense,” Chou wrote. “After that first match against Roger Williams, we discussed in our post-match debrief that we really need to be the aggressor on defense and launch against our opponents to take away space and opportunity.”
With one game under their belt, and the rust of an off-season dusted off, the Bears returned to their old rhythm: dominating their opponents. In the following two games against Northeastern and Boston College, the Bears completely shut out their opponents, racking up a cumulative 89 points while allowing zero.
“We contained our opponents through solid and constant communication amongst each other, a strong and united push up everytime the ball was played and relentless determination to stay hungry for the ball,” Olivia Baptiste ’26 wrote in a message to The Herald. “The game plan was to work hard on defense, so our offense would come easier and maintain low body height in our tackles.”
When the final matchup of the tournament arrived — the championship game against Northeastern — the team was well in form. Only thirty seconds into the contest, the Bears pounced.
Getting the ball deep in her own territory, walk-on Laryssa Barbosa ’26 flashed her blazing speed, scorching two Maddog defenders in a 70-meter sprint down the right flank. Following her try, and a successful conversion by Genie Dickens ’28, Brown claimed an early 7-0 lead.
The tournament was a chance for the team to “really look at our younger players, underclassmen and folks new to rugby,” Chou said.
“So many of them were impressive,” Chou wrote. “Freshmen Genie Dickens and Yona Allouche (’28) really were playing at an elite level, and 2nd year walk on, Laryssa Barbosa was dominant. All three will play important roles in this year’s 7s season.”
Once the Bears drew first blood, they swarmed. Putting relentless pressure on Northeastern four minutes into the game, Brown forced the Maddogs to punt the ball in a last-ditch effort to avoid being swarmed outside their own try zone. That decision proved fatal for Northeastern.
Rushing back, the Bears recovered the ball and pivoted it out to Jordan Wiseman ’27. Exploiting the Maddogs’ frantic defensive scramble, Wiseman blew past the Northeastern defense along the left flank to tally the second try of the game.
Now ahead 12-0, the floodgates opened. Just two minutes later, Brown struck again. Recovering the ball after a scrum inside Northeastern’s 22-meter-line, Lily Nowak ’27 burst ahead to claim a 17-0 lead — an advantage the Bears took into halftime.
Only one minute into the second half, Nowak scored again. Traversing the field from right to left in three quick passes, the Bears beat Northeastern’s defense horizontally and enabled Nowak to plow ahead and into the try zone. Before the Maddogs were able to put up a single point of their own, Brown already had 22.
Though Northeastern scored once, 10 minutes into the contest, their brief offensive success only reinvigorated an already hot Brown offense. After the Bears Maddogs’ kick-off, it only took one pass to get the ball into Barbosa’s hands. From there, she did the rest.
Putting on the afterburners, she embarrassed the Northeastern defense for the second time of the game. With blazing speed the Maddogs simply could not contest, she raced for 75-meters to score.
Already ahead 29-7, Baptiste cemented the victory with back-to-back tries. The Bears won the game 41-7, securing the overall tournament victory.
“The 7s season is all about quick ball movement and exploiting openings in the defense to break through the line and score,” Baptiste wrote in a message to The Herald. “We were lucky enough to find those spaces and execute on our passes, and I am glad I got to score for my team.”
“A big reason for the team’s success yesterday was the strong leadership from the upperclassmen and developmental captains,” Dickens added. “They set the tone for the team, holding everyone to a high standard and serving as great role models.”
“Their achievements are incredibly inspiring,” she continued, referencing teammates Akilah Cathey ’25 and Nikki Lynch ’25 who earned first team All-NIRA honors in February, among others. “They help encourage and mentor the younger players.”
Only one week into the season, the team already has lofty goals.
“Our main focus is undoubtedly securing another CRCs win,” Dickens wrote. For the past two years, the Bears have dominated the CRC stage, taking home national titles in back-to-back appearances. “But leading up to that tournament,” Dickens continued, “a victory at Ivy Sevens would be a great achievement as well.”
The Bears will next compete on March 22 at Brown 7s.
“We are really excited to host our Brown 7s tournament at home,” Chou wrote. “We haven’t held the tournament since 2022, so it will be very exciting to host so many wonderful teams right here in Providence.”
Lydell Dyer is a sports editor for The Herald. A junior hailing from Bonn, Germany, Lydell is studying nonfiction English and political science, and if he's not off "making words sound pretty," you can find him lifting heavy circles at the Nelson.
