The women's basketball team (3-25, 1-13 Ivy League) closed out the season with two losses over the weekend to the top two teams in the Ivy League. The Bears suffered an 81-57 loss to Harvard on Friday before falling to Dartmouth by a 64-43 score the following day.
Harvard 81, Brown 57
On Friday, the Crimson (19-8, 11-2) jumped on the Bears right from the tip-off, taking a 26-14 lead with just over seven minutes remaining in the half, but the Bears fought back.
"Throughout the season, (staying) focused in games and always (having) three stops in a row on defense, that has been our goal no matter what," said captain Amy Ehrhart '09, a former Herald sports editor. "When we reach that goal we get pretty pumped. Against Harvard, we had three stops in a row and that is why we were able to come back and get so close by the half."
Shae Fitzpatrick '10 and Sadiea Williams '11 scored key points down the stretch to cut Harvard's lead to 32-26 heading into halftime.
Karly Grace '11 opened the second half with a three to bring the Bears within three, but the Crimson turned the tables with a 12-0 run to take a 44-29 lead with 15 minutes left.
"They had 40 points in a the paint and we couldn't compete with their inside players," Ehrhart said. "We had trouble with posts because we were a lot shorter."
The Crimson held a comfortable lead the rest of the way en route to an 81-57 win. Brown shot 78 percent from the free-throw line but just 29 percent from the field, and were out-rebounded 47-28. Williams and Christina Johnson '10 led the Bears with 10 points apiece, while Courtney Lee '10 pulled down six boards and had five assists.
"It's important to have multiple people contributing to the offense, because our team doesn't depend on one person," Ehrhart said. "This will definitely carry into next year knowing that everyone can contribute. It will open up the offense when we are looking at multiple people to score."
Dartmouth 64, Brown 43
The Bears faced another stiff challenge the following evening against the best team in the league in Dartmouth (17-10, 12-1).
A three-point play by Ehrhart gave Brown a 15-14 midway through the first half, but the Big Green pulled way to take a 12-point lead before Lee drove the basket for a lay-up to end the half with Dartmouth leading, 29-19.
"We knew Dartmouth was more of a defensive team, not run-and-gun like Harvard the night before, so we felt confident at halftime that we had a chance to come back from 10 down," said Ehrhart.
"We wanted to limit their three-point shooting opportunities and do a better job controlling the boards," she said.
Grace, for the second consecutive night, hit a three to begin the second half. But as Dartmouth's Brittney Smith scored 11 of her team's next 15 points, the Big Green cruised to a 44-30 lead midway through the half.
Dartmouth continued to push their lead to finish with a 64-43 win, but Ehrhart said there were still several positive points for the Bears.
"Our field-goal percentage was higher than usual and our free-throw percentage was the highest it's been all season," she said. "We also did a good job taking better shots by attacking their zone and finding our open shooters instead of forcing up bad ones."
Johnson once again led the Bears with nine points, while Lee added eight points. Ehrhart finished her Brown career with seven points and three rebounds.
