The women's basketball team enters its final two home games of the season with hopes of winning the Ivy League title. At 7-3 in the league and 15-8 overall, the Bears must win their last two home games to have any shot of winning the league - starting with undefeated Dartmouth (13-8, 9-0 Ivy).
The Bears will look to cut down on the turnovers and mental mistakes that inhibited them against the Big Green in their first match-up. "Every time we got within striking distance, we made a mental error. In this game coming up, we need to take care and respect the basketball. If we do that, we have a good chance to win," said Head Coach Jean Marie Burr.
In the first meeting with the Big Green, the Bears were out-rebounded 41-29 and shot only 32 percent from the field, a performance they cannot repeat. "We need to command the boards this time. It is imperative that we not give them second shots," Burr said.
The Bears will try to slow down Dartmouth's balanced scoring attack, which boasts four players averaging double figures, beginning with Elise Morrison, who averages a team-leading 14.6 points per game.
Last weekend, Brown was led by an excellent performance from Holly Robertson '05. Robertson tallied 44 points and 17 rebounds in two games against the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton. "Holly opens things up by just working hard on the court. She is one of our best perimeter shooters and she is able to play very well in the low post," Burr said.
Robertson and the Bears will try to sweep the season series with Harvard on Saturday night. The Bears played one of their best overall games of the season when they defeated the Crimson 78-63 Feb. 11 on the road. In that game, the Bears were able to hold league-leading scorer Reka Cserny to 11 points, 9.5 below her Ivy League season average. "We matched up very well with her. We were able to pressure her very well and we were all aware of where she was on the court," Burr said.
In their last meeting with Harvard, Brown excelled in the same areas where they fell short against Dartmouth. They shot 54 percent in the first half and 46 percent for the game en route to a season-high 78 points, and won the rebounding battle 47-33. "It is the intangibles that enable you to win games. We need a little extra effort on the unsung parts of the game like boxing out if we are going to win these games this weekend," Burr said.
If the Bears win these two upcoming games, they will be within at least two games of Dartmouth for first place in the league with two games left to play, giving them an outside shot at the Ivy title.
The Bears also want their final two games to be a good showing, especially for seniors Andrea Conrad '05 and Robertson, who will be playing their final home games. "We want to be prepared for a good performance. Andrea and Holly are playing the best basketball of their careers, and we want to send them out with two final wins on their home floor," Burr said.
The Bears will look to please the Blitz the Pitz crowd on Friday night, and then carry the momentum over to Saturday's game, both at 7 p.m.
