Strong Second Half Leads to 54-42 Win against Penn

Providence, RI- Senior forward Natalie Bonds (Taveres, FL) earned her third double-double of the season with a team-high 12 points and 12 rebounds to help lead the Brown women’s basketball team to a 54-42 victory over the University of Pennsylvania this evening. The Bears improved to 7-16 overall and are now 4-5 in Ivy League play, while Penn drops to 1-21 and 0-8 in the league.

Both teams got off to a slow start as the Quakers were able to gain an 8-4 lead against the Bears after the first five minutes of play. But Bruno tied the game at eight after a layup by Bonds and a jumper by freshman Lindsay Nickel (Los Altos, CA). The lead changed hands three more times after that, and a three by Penn’s Kim Adams gave the Quakers a three-point lead with 10:41 left in the half, but it was their last lead of the night as the Bears rolled to a 25-19 lead with 25 seconds remaining in the half. A jumper by Adams cut Penn’s deficit to 25-21 as the Bears went into the locker room at halftime with a four-point advantage.

The Quakers remained within striking distance throughout the first eight minutes of the second half, but the Bears built a nine-point lead after a three by sophomore guard Hannah Passafuime (Soquel, CA) and a jumper by Bonds to put the score at 35-26 with 12:52 left in the game.

Sophomore guard Lindsay Steele (Erial, NJ) nailed a jumper on the right side and forced a Penn turnover, as Bonds followed with a jumper to record the double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) at the 10 minute mark. Then, senior Christina Johnson (Oakland, CA) hit a jumper to give Bruno a 41-26 advantage.

Penn’s Adams hit a three to cut the Quakers deficit to 10 with 7:10 left in the game, but Nickel hit a three to extend the Bears’ lead back up to 13 at 6:55. Bruno continued to roll with the help of Johnson’s nine second-half points and Bonds’ eight to increase Brown’s lead to 51-35 with 4:02 remaining in the game.

The Quakers cut their deficit to 11 with 1:17 left on the clock, but a free throw by junior Sarah Delk (Atlanta, GA) extended Brown’s lead to 12, 54-42, to win the game. Bonds led Brown tonight with 12 points (6-9 from the floor) and 12 rebounds, as both Nickel and Johnson finished with 11 points apiece. The Bears shot 37 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Quakers 46-35.

Kim Adams led Penn with 14 points and five rebounds, as Amy Donovan and Caroline Nicholson added seven points each. Penn shot just 16 percent from the field in the second half and ended the game 25 percent overall,

The Bears host the first-place Princeton Tigers at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow. Fans show your support by wearing pink tomorrow as Brown hosts its WBCA Pink Zone event. Fans will receive free pink pom-poms and will have a chance to enter a raffle to win a free iPod!