As the Ivy season starts to heat up, the women's basketball team (10-5, 2-0) looks to rely on its reputation as the league's best defensive team to carry it to the top.
For the past two seasons the Bears have led the Ivy League in defense. This season has proved no different: Brown is holding opponents to 59.7 points per game, 38 percent shooting from the field and 32 percent on three-point shooting.
At the start of the season, Head Coach Jean Marie Burr mentioned that she intentionally put together a difficult early schedule for the Bears. The tactic has paid off handsomely, as the Bears have recorded big wins over Lehigh University, University of Rhode Island, Binghamton University and Navy en route to an 8-5 non-conference record, a rare achievement for a Brown basketball team.
"Not many teams in Brown's history have had a winning record non-Ivy," said Burr.
"We have played a lot of tough teams and we have been able to learn from the wins and the losses," said co-captain Andrea Conrad '05.
In the Bears' Ivy League opener, they were able to force 22 turnovers and had 13 steals on the road against Yale en route to a 65-38 win. The Bulldogs were held to just five first-half field goals and shot a mere 25 percent for the game.
A week later Yale came to the Pizzitola Center, and while the game was closer, the Bears again came out on top, 72-56. It was the third year in a row that the Bears have swept the Bulldogs to open Ivy play. Bruno dominated defensively, forcing 26 turnovers and recording 18 steals.
The 72 points were a season high for the Bears, who were led - with 16 points each - by Holly Robertson '05 and Sarah Hayes '06, last week's Ivy League Player of the Week.
With Hayes and Robertson leading the offense, seven other Bears found their way into the scoring column. Conrad and Colleen Kelly '06 both went for nine, while Kathleen Barr '07 and Ashley King-Bishof '07 notched career highs with eight points each. The Bears also took great care of the ball, committing only 11 turnovers.
The second Yale contest was the first in three weeks for Kelly, who injured her ACL in the first half against Stony Brook University. At first, her status looked bleak for the rest of the season, but a rehab stint in New York revealed the injury to be less serious than originally expected.
With the heart of the Ivy season coming up, the Bears will continue to rely on defense. Two games into league play, the Bears are second in scoring margin at +3.7, first in rebounding margin at +4.4 and first in turnover margin at +1.47.
"As league play starts, the most important thing is to be consistent with our defense," Conrad said. "We can control how hard we work on defense, and we want other teams to have to adjust to our defense."
The Bears' smothering defense has been complimented by the consistency of Hayes and Robertson, who average 19 and 17 points per game, respectively. The Bears will rely on the two of them to continue to make big plays and spark the team.
"Sarah has been a tremendous leader. She is quick, a great defender and knows how to lift everyone" said Burr. She added: "Holly's consistency in the paint will open up driving lanes and opportunities for everyone else."
Despite the efforts of Robertson and Hayes, the Bears will look for a balanced attack with contributions from everyone, a feat the team believes it can accomplish.
The Bears will look to keep their momentum going as they face Princeton and University of Pennsylvania Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m. at the Pizzitola Center.
